The Metro Council has approved spending $70 million in federal transportation money, applauding a two-year effort by the agency to collaborate with cities and counties and give a more thorough consideration of low income and minority communities.

A rare public dust up between Portland and Multnomah County was the flashpoint of a meeting where a regional committee approved spending $70 million in federal money for transportation projects and programs across the metropolitan area.

Today the Metro Council voted 6-0 to add 1985 acres to the region’s urban growth boundary for future housing and jobs. (Councilor Rex Burkholder was excused.) This represents less than a one-percent expansion of the region’s urban footprint to accommodate thousands of additional households and workers over the next 20 years.

At nearly 2,000 acres, Metro’s Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area is one of the region’s most important assets. Hidden on all sides by industrial land and commercial development, it provides rare habitat for plants, birds and wildlife and unique opportunities for human interaction with nature. Visitors are often surprised to find the area teeming with beaver, river otter, black-tailed deer, osprey, bald eagles and Western painted turtles living only minutes from downtown Portland.

Cities and counties across the region are selecting transportation projects this summer they plan to nominate for Metro’s $22 million regional flexible funding program.