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fact we were working backward.....Now we are at the position that they mayor may not issue us ajeopardy opinion. We have also hired one of the top environmentalists with wetlands (Terry Huffman)....in the nation to help represent us. If this went on '60 Minutes' they would have a heyday with how we've been treated by the Corps of Engineers.....We must now play it legally and play it tough as well as playing it fair environmentally....! think there are some other agendas going on that are preventing us from obtaining a permit for a project that is raising our levees 6 inches in some cases, 2 feet in others, and .....the consultant we hired, who is nationally known within the environmental field, was appalled... at some of the conditions laid on us by the Corps and some of the other agencies. We feel we have to.....demand that they pay attention to their own time limits.....We have tried to cooperate with them for years and years and years. It is now time to get a decision on this, and the best way to proceed is to have on board this very noted environmentalist that is overseeing our EIR person....He feels that we have dotted all the i's, crossed all the t's and gone further than necessary and the conditions that he has seen from the Corps and the Fish and Wildlife are greater than he has ever seen in any project.... and he has worked within the Corps.....! have never seen a governmental agency treat anybody the way we've been treated by the Corps. Thank you." In response to Council questions, City Manager Everett stated that the City was approaching the time when the Corps will be issuing or not issuing a letter and the City will have the ability to appeal. The City believes the Corps will issue a draft letter of a jeopardy opinion so that it can be discussed. If the letter is issued the City will not be able to build a levee system as it has been designed. City Manager Everett added that the Corps has suggested that the City build a levee system that won't cost $4 million, but would cost over $20 million, which is a ludicrous proposal, and the Corps has never given the City any time lines. MIS: STEINFELD/LA BERGE APPROVE TASK ORDER NO.1 TO THE AGREEMENT FOR SPECIAL LEGAL SERVICES FOR THE REDWOOD SHORES EXTERIOR LEVEE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT, AND AUTHORIZE AN ADDITIONAL EXPENDITURE OF $25,000 FOR ADDITIONAL WORK RELATING TO THE PROJECT'S IMPACTS ON ENDANGERED SPECIES (WASHBURN, BRISCO AND MC CARTHY) (304) CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS ROLL CALL VOTE. MINUTE ORDER NO. 95-019 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY A. Proclamations to Ali Feroz, Tano Mahe, Sini Makasini and Tofia Kavapalu who helped put out a fire and saved lives; (207) Fire Chief Fink described the heroic and life saving actions by four Redwood City residents that saved the lives of a whole family and saved a neighborhood from imminent danger. Mayor Gasparini sincerely thanked all four gentlemen (Ali Feroz was unable to Regular Meeting Minutes MINUTE BOOK NO. 53 January 23, 1995 Page No. 035 Page 5 -_.>