Council and commissioners tentatively approve code change to allow EWEB water treatment plant in Glenwood

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. — The Springfield City Council and the Lane County Board of Commissioners on May 18 tentatively approved ordinance 26‑03, amending the Springfield Development Code and the Glenwood refinement plan to allow high‑impact public utility facilities in the Glenwood Employment Mixed‑Use District and enabling the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) to pursue construction of a new water treatment plant in Glenwood.

The joint hearing, opened by Mayor Van Gordon, drew presentations from city staff and EWEB officials and included one public speaker in favor. Andy, a city staff member who summarized the proposal for the council and commissioners, said the change is a textual amendment only and that any actual treatment‑plant project would require later discretionary land‑use approvals and environmental permits.

Karen Kelly, chief water operations officer for the Eugene Water & Electric Board, told the joint body that EWEB relies on a single treatment plant, Hayden Bridge, and that ‘‘having only one source of water and one treatment plant that is 75 years old ... puts EWEB customers at extreme risk of experiencing an extended water outage due to natural disasters like wildfire, severe weather events, an earthquake or equipment failure at the existing plant.’’ She said the proposed Glenwood site would provide a second, more seismically resilient source and would not add long‑term capacity but would increase resiliency.

Laura Farthing, EWEB’s principal engineer and project manager, described recent operational risks and storage limits at the existing system and said, ‘‘we currently have about 1 to three days worth of storage before Eugene is out of water.’’ She and other presenters described a proposed intake on the river, a treatment plant and a transmission pipeline to connect to EWEB’s system.

Ally Langley, a planner with Cameron McCarthy representing the applicant, described the land‑use changes as narrow and enabling: the amendments would permit high‑impact public utility facilities as a primary use on nine publicly owned properties totaling 33 acres in the district (EWEB owns about 82% of those acres). Langley emphasized that the amendments do not change the Metro Plan or the Springfield comprehensive plan and that the actual plant would be subject to conditional‑use review, site‑plan review and environmental permitting.

City staff and the applicant said the joint planning commissions of Lane County and Springfield had held a previous hearing and unanimously recommended approval. Renderings shown to the council depicted a plant sited to minimize visual impacts, and the applicant described riverbank and fish‑habitat enhancements planned for the intake area as part of mitigation.

During council questions, Councilor Mo asked whether historical features had been identified. The applicant said cultural surveys for the build footprint and transmission corridor were completed and found no historic resources in the site being proposed for construction, though a councilor noted an old brick chimney structure nearby and asked staff to follow up.

One community member, Mark Pangborn of Eugene, urged leaders to ‘‘move this project forward’’ and stressed regional cooperation on critical infrastructure, saying municipal water ‘‘is probably one of the most important aspects that we could have as a community.’’

After public testimony the hearing was closed. Vice Chair moved to tentatively approve ordinance 26‑03 as presented and set a third reading and deliberations for July 7, 2026; Commissioner Levelville seconded. The roll call vote was recorded as five in favor and the motion carried. City staff were directed to return the ordinance for adoption on June 1, 2026 and to return with the items required for the next hearings.

The tentative approval allows EWEB to pursue the next steps in the land‑use process but does not authorize construction; any treatment‑plant proposal would require subsequent discretionary land‑use approvals and environmental permits before work could begin.