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MEMORANDUM City of Springfield <br /> & City of Eugene <br /> <br /> ~ To: <br /> Mike Kelly, Springfield City Manager <br /> Dennis Taylor, Eugene City Manager <br /> From: <br /> Dan Brown, Springfield Public Works Director/MWMC Executive Officer <br /> Kurt Corey, Eugene Public Works Director <br /> Susie Smith, Springfield Environmental Services/MWMC General Manager <br /> Peter Ruffier, Eugene Wastewater Division Director <br /> Date: June 6, 2005 <br /> Subject: Coburg Connection Discussion at SEL and Future JEO Meeting <br /> ISSUE <br /> This memo responds to the scheduling, by George Kloeppel, of a SEL agenda item to set a JEO <br /> meeting for the elected officials to make a threshold policy-level decision regarding whether to <br /> connect Coburg to the MWMC system. It also responds to the letter attached to George's email, <br /> which he indicates would be provided by Mayor Volta to the elected officials. <br /> DISCUSSION <br /> The JEO meeting George Kloeppel is requesting to schedule is exactly the meeting we have <br /> intended to schedule in response to the elected officials' direction in the Summer of 2004. Staff <br /> had originally intended to convene the JEOs in the December/January time frame to provide <br /> them with the "scoping study" they requested to facilitate the "policy-level" discussion George <br /> refers to in his emails. The necessary scoping work has not been completed to date, because the <br /> higher priority review of the MWMC intergovernmental (IGA) agreement by the elected officials <br /> diverted all available staff resources in what became a protracted, time consuming, and resource <br /> intensive process. <br /> All three governing bodies have now held public hearings and adopted ordinances and <br /> resolutions revising the IGA and authorizing MWMC to sell revenue bonds, respectively. <br /> ~EIowever, because the Eugene City Council and the Board of County Commissioners adopted an _ , , ~ comp„e~,t i i.~: ~i~ ~ <br /> IGA that differs si ificantl from the one the S rin field Cit Council ado ted, an additional ~ ~ ` ` ~ ~ <br /> ~ Y p g Y P ~ ~ i, <br /> public hearing and action are required for Springfield to consider the IGA as revised by the other - <br /> governing bodies. Staff has scheduled this for Council action in July. If this process can be <br /> wrapped up without additional commitment of staff resources, we project that the staff work <br /> necessary to support a JEO discussion of Coburg can be completed for a late Augustlearly <br /> September JEO meeting. Please note the caveat that any other significant diversions of staff time <br /> required to support the elected officials in response to ongoing MWMC-related issues raised by <br /> the Home Builders Association or other interest groups will further delaythis process. <br /> It would be premature to schedule and conduct a JEO discussion on Coburg prior to delivering <br /> the work they requested of staff: As staff understands the elected officials' direction, the scoping <br /> analysis they requested is expressly for the purpose of making the policy level decision of <br /> whether and how they will direct further study and negotiations around this issue. It would be <br /> particularly inappropriate to convey the letter, which George represents will be signed by Mayor <br /> Volta, to the JEOs and have them discuss it at a meeting when they have not been given <br /> <br />