Commissioners wrestle with quorum conundrum.

Byline: COUNTY BEAT by Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard

IF THREE LANE COUNTY commissioners - the number required for a quorum - end up in another agency's public meeting, does that constitute a legal meeting of the county as well, subject to its own public notice and minute-taking?

The question came up at this week's commissioners' meeting and generated quite a bit of heat without shedding much light on the subject.

It seems Commissioner Anna Morrison recently attended a meeting of the Metropolitan Policy Committee - coordinated by the Lane Council of Governments on behalf of Lane County and the cities of Eugene and Springfield - that already had commissioners Bill Dwyer and Bobby Green in attendance as the county's official, voting representatives.

Commissioner Peter Sorenson questioned the propriety of Morrison's attendance because of the quorum issue.

Morrison said she participated in the discussion as a citizen, not a commissioner, and the give-and-take did not result in any formal action. On top of that, she contended, the sponsoring agency, LCOG, provided the legal notice, including the caveat that three commissioners might be in attendance, as well as taking official minutes of the meeting. End of problem.

Dwyer bought her argument and took it a step further. Having three commissioners present in the same room does not constitute an official meeting "unless they're deliberating toward a conclusion" on some issue, he said.

County Counsel Teresa Wilson took a softer line but didn't come down on either side.

"The public meeting law is focused on whether there's notice of a meeting and whether the proceedings are open," Wilson said. "As long as you have notice and the minutes reflect what happened, especially when the notice states that a quorum may be there, it's probably sufficient."

Just to avoid the appearance of impropriety, however, having the county issue its own notice probably wouldn't hurt, she said. "It just removes some risk."

Sorenson still seemed unsure.

"(Wilson) just gave us all the reasons it was a meeting, and (Dwyer) just gave us all the reasons it wasn't," he said. "I just want to know what the situation is here."

The answer? That'll have to be the subject of another meeting. With notice, minutes and a quorum, of course.

To spray or not to spray

Should Lane County's Parks Division use herbicides as part of its reforestation efforts at the Blue Mountain Park forestlands southeast of Cottage Grove? The commissioners will take up that thorny issue at their meeting on Wednesday.

According to county parks manager Rich Fay, the county has been logging in Blue Mountain Park since 1986, using the proceeds to make improvements to various county parks facilities. Originally, county officials hoped that "staged harvesting" would result in natural reforestation of the land, but that hasn't happened, so manual tree-planting has been necessary.

Unfortunately, the survival rate of Douglas fir seedlings planted since 1994 has been low - about 25 percent - and a state forester has advised the county that "without management of the grass and blackberries on the site" - meaning use of herbicides - the area may have to be replanted yet again.

A woodland consultant has recommended that the county apply limited amounts of herbicides - using Oust and "possibly Accord (Round-up with a forestry label" - in the 70-acre planting area, to get rid of grasses and broadleaf weeds. The recommendation also includes the use of Garlon to get rid of Scotch broom that has invaded.

Lane County's Parks Advisory Committee couldn't come to a consensus about the problem and forwarded it to the commissioners without a recommendation.

Recurring slide problems

Describing the county as a "victim of circumstance and location," County Engineer Sonny Chickering wants to know what to do about what has become a perennial winter slide problem along West Fork Road near Deadwood.

Unstable soil above the road on several tracts belonging to the U.S. Forest Service and landowner Don Wilbur has been giving way each winter, cutting off access to seven residences several times during the season, sometimes for days at a time.

"Unfortunately, this circumstance does not relieve the county of its obligation to keep the road clear and open for the residents who live beyond the slide," Chickering said.

The county's response so far has been to work with the Forest Service to provide a detour via Forest Service Road 618, which runs above the slide area, but Chickering said a more permanent fix needs to be found.

One suggestion involves a $110,000 repair to drain the slide area and construct ditches along the forest service road above to keep water from running down onto the slide mass. Another would be to spend $40,000 just to do the ditches, then try to get grant funding and improve the drainage next summer. A third option would be continuing to clean up slides as they happen and detouring traffic onto Road 618. Complete stabilization of the slide mass and rebuild of the road would cost $1.6 million.

Residents of the area appear to favor the $110,000 option, Chickering said. The county commissioners will decide Wednesday whether to spend road fund money to take care of the problem.

Lane County reporter Randi Bjornstad can be reached at 338-2321.