By ANN PORTAL
The Register-Guard

Replacing six acres of wetlands to allow an expansion on Spectra-Physics Inc. property that would create 700 jobs is expected to cost $240,000, according to city officials.

In a Monday night briefing before the City Council, city staff members said they are investigating the possibility of seeking a state lottery grant to pay for up to half the cost of replacing the acreage, which would include buying additional upland property and creating a wetlands area on the new site.

Council members said they are willing to consider spending city money to complete the replacement but, as Councilman Rob Bennett pointed out, "it's OK to play poker here" by seeking additional outside funding, including asking Spectra-Physics to chip in.

Councilman Roger Rutan agreed. "We shouldn't go charging in with a pot of money when it may not be necessary at all," he said.

Spectra-Physics, which employs 500 people, is on the verge of applying for a fill permit to proceed with two phases of expansion planned for its site in west Eugene. The company is proposing to retain one wetlands area that has been judged particularly significant and to fill another of less significance.

City staff members are looking at several sites north of Spectra-Physics as potential replacement acreage.

Spectra-Physics is one of the first companies in Eugene to run into the city's recent discovery of an estimated 760 acres of west Eugene wetlands that may fall under strict state and federal development regulations. About 120 of the acres already are protected as the Willow Creek and Bertelsen Slough natural resource areas.

The remainder are parcels zoned primarily for industrial development and, in a few instances, for commercial development, said Steve Gordon, senior program manager for the Lane Council of Governments.

Wetlands are areas with special water, plant and soil conditions that provide a unique habitat for animais. Wetlands also help improve water quality, provide flood control and support recreation.

Before wetlands can be filled, permits must be obtained from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Division of State Lands. If construction is allowed, the filled wetlands area must be replaced elsewhere.

Several council members Monday night expressed shock at the extent of wetlands found on some of the city's prime industrial sites in west Eugene.

"How did this happen?" Hutan said, noting that the city engaged in a "massive planning effort" to provide $12 million in sewers and streets to support development on the west Eugene sites.

Gordon said the wetlands were not discovered sooner because of the lack of clarity in wetlands regulations and because the west Eugene sites do not look like stereotypical wetlands.

It was only after a detailed study of the plant life on the sites that the extent of the wetlands was discovered, he said. The city is applying for a $50,000 federal grant to further define the boundaries, he said.

City Manager Mike Gleason said the city discovered and put off-limits to development the Bertelsen Slough in 1980 to 1981, believing the action "had taken care of the (wetlands) problem."

Asked if any legal recourse exists for property owners, Gordon said, "The courts to date have said, 'You bought a wetland -- congratulations, you own a wetland.'"

Rutan said some property owners have told him "not entirely facetiously" that the solution is to fill the wetlands area at night "and when the feds come along and say they can't do that, just say, 'sue me.'"

Gordon said he would advise against such an approach, noting that developers face hefty fines and the possibility of having to tear down the buildings if they build without a permit.