04/23/09 - City Council Newsletter

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work. The Walnut Station study area is located along Franklin Boulevard east of downtown Eugene, between the University of Oregon and the Willamette River. On the morning of April 27, the design team will present several development options in the form of computer models and drawings for areas within Walnut Station and then collect feedback throughout the day and into the evening. On April 28, the plans will be refined into a single option for each area based on stakeholder and public input. The third day will integrate comments from the previous evening into the design plans in preparation for the final presentation at 6:00 p.m. on April 28. This promises to be a dynamic, exciting event. Results from the charrette process will be used to draft form-based code for the Walnut Station area. Form-based code is a new planning tool that provides a visual representation for the future development of mixed-use areas. Gathering and incorporating input from all stakeholders early in the process is core to the success of creating a form-based code. For more information visit the website at www.eugene-or.gov/walnut or contact Lydia McKinney at 682-5485 or via e-mail at lydia.s.mckinney@ci.eugene.or.us. Pick Favorite Broadway Tune and Win Tickets Hult Presents is offering a fun contest for everyone, especially all fans of Broadway musicals. Participants can vote for their favorite Broadway song and see it performed live by five stars of Neil Berg’s 100 Years of Broadway at the Hult Center on Friday, May 15, at 8:00 p.m. There will be 13 songs to choose from, and everyone can vote for their top three. The song with the most votes will be the winner and performed live. The contest runs through Monday, April 27, at 5:00 p.m. Five winners, randomly selected from the votes cast for the winning song, will be announced on Wednesday, April 29, and will receive two tickets to experience Neil Berg’s 100 Years of Broadway. Cast a vote by visiting the HultCenter.org website and clicking the icon on the lower right-hand corner of the homepage. For more information, contact Marketing and Public Relations Manager Billie Moser at 682-8380 or billie.c.moser@ci.eugene.or.us. Eugene’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Strategic Plan Wins National Award Each year, the American Planning Association (APA) recognizes outstanding projects by students in accredited planning programs that contribute to advances in the field of planning. This year, the APA is recognizing Eugene’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Strategic Plan as one of three student projects worthy of national recognition at its 2009 national conference in Minneapolis. The award for student projects will be presented on Tuesday, April 28. The University of Oregon’s Community Planning Workshop, a service/learning/consulting program in which graduate students are supervised by professional planners, played a critical role in compiling research, organizing meetings and events, facilitating workshops,and providing technical writing and graphic design for both the planning process, and development of the final plan. As a measure of the Strategic Plan’s success a little over one year after its release, many of the 80 actions designed to make Eugene a more walkable and bikeable community, are underway. Eugene’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) is actively engaged in assisting and monitoring plan implementation. More information about the Strategic Plan, Eugene’s BPAC, and that group’s current Bicycle and Pedestrian Business Awards program, is available at www.eugene-or.gov/bpac or by calling Associate Transportation Planner, David Roth at 682-5727. City Recognized for Commitment to Engineering Students About 12 years ago, civil engineers in the Willamette Valley got together and worked with Oregon State University (OSU) to expand a multidisciplinary internship program to include a strong civil engineering component. Civil engineers, particularly those in public agencies, typically have a different role than their counterparts in the mechanical, industrial, electrical and computer engineering fields. That initial effort led to the formation of CECOP, the civil engineering branch of MECOP (Multiple Engineering Cooperative Program). A board of volunteers, one from each company, oversees the program, the selection process and employment evaluation. The program started at OSU but now includes Oregon Institute of Technology and Portland State University engineering colleges. MECOP is a three-way partnership between the agencies and companies who employ engineers, the university EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 April 23, 2009