City considers leaving LRAPA.

Byline: Andrea Damewood The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - With looming budget concerns in mind, the Springfield City Council agreed Monday to send a letter to the Lane County Board of Commissioners asking that the board consider disbanding the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency.

As the city's general fund dips with the economy, a number of intergovernmental agreements, including the 40-year relationship between Springfield and LRAPA, may have to come to an end, Mayor Sid Leiken said.

The state's only local air pollution regulation authority, the agency is funded in part by the participating cities of Eugene, Springfield, Oakridge and Cottage Grove, as well as by Lane County. Air pollution is governed by the state Department of Environmental Quality everywhere else in Oregon.

"I just personally think it's kind of run its course," Leiken said. "It makes more sense from a consistency standpoint to have Lane County be regulated by the DEQ. Should we be spending taxpayer money on duplicating services? To me at this point in time, I think the answer is no."

If just one agency pulls out, LRAPA could continue to operate in the area, but if multiple jurisdictions were to quit, the agency might have to disband.

Each member city in the air protection agency pays 99 cents per resident each year, meaning Springfield would save just under $57,000 if it quit, LRAPA Director Merlyn Hough said.

Funding for LRAPA is renewed annually, so "especially in difficult budget years, the question comes" whether governments will continue their support, Hough said.

"We welcome the questions, because it gives us an opportunity to explain why LRAPA is here," he said, adding that he wrote a letter to the council Friday asking councilors to reconsider their decision to ask the county commissioners to end the agency.

"Here in Lane County, we've had strong support and when the questions have come up, the decision has been made that LRAPA has been critical to the quality of life here," Hough said.

Local fees make up about 15 percent of the agency's $2.5 million annual budget and the rest comes from state and federal funds, he said.

Because of budget woes, Lane County paid only about half of its $118,000 obligation to the air pollution authority this year, he said.

Aside from money concerns, Leiken said he believes the agency has strayed from its original mission. He said some on the group's nine-member board have created an activist board by getting involved in the debate over whether to curb field burning.

"Getting involved in field burning ... that's not part of LRAPA's business," he said.

LRAPA board Chairman David Monk said the board is not out of line for wanting to end an archaic practice such as field burning. LRAPA has no jurisdiction over field burning, Monk said, but recommending that the state ban the practice is "not a radical idea by any means." LRAPA in the past has logged citizen complaints about field burning.

"There's a little bit of politics as well as budgetary issues behind this, and I would like to alleviate those concerns for Mayor Leiken and the City Council," he said. "The DEQ can't give the level of service to the community that LRAPA can."

Councilor John Woodrow said the Springfield-based SierraPine particleboard company called him to say it would like the city to continue its relationship with the local authority.

However, Councilor Anne Ballew said the city is likely going to face tough times in the next year and may have to trim all it can from its budget. "It's a higher level of service and maybe the time has come when we can't afford it," she said.

The city may also have to reevaluate its payments to the Lane Council of Governments and Lane Metro Partnership, Leiken said.

The letter to LRAPA will stand as a six-month notice should the council decide later to quit the agency, he said.

"It's good to send the letter out now just for notification," Leiken said. "Springfield is going to have to tighten its belt; this is one of our belt-tightening issues."

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