At the full council meeting this afternoon, council viaduct committee chair Sally Bagshaw plans to introduce an ordinance—as she told PubliCola this weekend—that will "ratify" city council president Richard Conlin's signature on a supplemental draft environmental impact statement for the deep-bore tunnel.

Mayor Mike McGinn has claimed that Conlin violated the city charter by signing the document, because the charter reserves that power for the executive branch; however, Bagshaw says the charter gives the council the authority to oversee infrastructure construction projects.

The ordinance, which Bagshaw will walk on to the council's agenda this afternoon, will only serve as a safeguard in case of a legal challenge to Conlin's signature, council staffers say. The council won't be able to vote on the ordinance until next week; city law requires a week between the introduction of an ordinance and a vote.