04/16/09 City Council Newsletter

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Eugene, along with over 130 communities and organizations, has filed comprehensive comments in response to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Request for Information on how to implement the broadband grant program created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The comments address how NTIA can best go about following the intent of Congress under Section 6001 of the Act. In the comments, the City stresses that local governments were explicitly permitted to apply for and receive grant funding from NTIA, and that the numerous public interest provisions contained in the Act should guide NTIA’s implementation of the program. The comments also caution against giving states too great a role in determining what projects are funded with broadband grant dollars, and emphasize the need to create definitions that reflect the reality of competing in a global economy. The comments, 10 key points, executive summary, and appendices are all contained within one PDF file, which can be accessed at: http://www.natoa.org/documents/NTIA-RUS%20RFI%20Comment%20FINAL%204-10-09.pdf. Considering the City’s long and active history of developing communications technology projects of community benefit, Eugene was happy to participate in this filing. The City of Portland and the Oregon League of Cities also filed comments. For additional information, please contact Telecommunications Program Manager Pam Berrian, ISD, at 682-5590. Story Time and Display Celebrate Fair Housing Month In honor of Fair Housing Month, Eugene’s Planning and Development Department invites children and parents to a special story time at the Eugene Public Library. City Councilor Chris Pryor, who serves on the City’s Housing Policy Board, will be reading A Pig Is Moving In, by Claudia Fries, at the Downtown Library on Monday, April 20 at 10:30 a.m. This charming story is great for kids ages 4-8, but the whole family can enjoy it. A brief history of th housing discrimination in Oregon will be on display in the Atrium at 99 West 10 Avenue. State Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian will join Eugene City Councilor Chris Pryor, the Oregon Fair Housing Council, and local leaders to celebrate the Governor’s proclamation naming April as Fair Housing Month in Oregon, and reaffirm Oregon’s commitment to fair housing and civil rights. This re-declaration will take place in the Atrium at 11:00 a.m., just after the story time. Fair Housing Month celebrates progress made in opening the doors of housing opportunity regardless of race, gender, color, nationality, religion, family status, or disability. It is also a time to acknowledge the fair housing challenges that remain. According to the National Fair Housing Alliance, there are more than 3.7 million instances of discrimination each year against African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans, and American Indians in rental and sales markets. This estimate does not include instances of discrimination against persons with disabilities - the group that files the highest number of complaints with Housing and Urban Development (HUD) each year - nor discrimination based on religion, sex, color, familial status or other ethnicities. For more information, contact Community Outreach Coordinator Laura Hammond at 541-682-6021 or Laura.A.Hammond@ci.eugene.or.us. Workshops on Low-Impact Development Design Tools The City of Eugene is participating in two low-impact development workshops sponsored by Oregon Environmental Council in April. These workshops are designed to inform participants about stormwater management using low-impact development tools such as vegetated swales, rain gardens, and bio-filtration among other methods. City staff participated in planning meetings for the workshop which included representatives from local governments, developers, landscape architects and consultants. The purpose of these meetings was to determine the current needs pertaining to use of low-impact development in Lane County. The first workshop on April 3 was considered very successful with approximately 50 participants including City staff from Parks and Open Space, Public Works Maintenance and Public Works Engineering divisions. The workshop concluded with a tour of local stormwater facilities within Eugene that showcase several alternative stormwater designs including vegetated swales, green roofs and rain catchments th systems. Included in the tour was a stop at the East 18 Avenue Workshop participants visit vegetated storm pedestrian and bicycle improvement project where three flow-through water treatment facility along 18th Avenue planters were put in place by the City to handle stormwater runoff down EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 April 16, 2009