CC Minutes - 09/14/09 Work Session

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become involved. She noted that a former Lane Regional Air Protection Agency employee had started a new business to reduce pollution from idling trucks. Ms. Ortiz said she staffed the City’s booth at the Eugene Celebration and encouraged residents to take the neighborhood survey on the City’s website. She indicated that the last meeting of LRAPA had been challenging because of action to direct the agency to become involved in dispute resolution with Seneca. She said the action was determined to be in conflict with LRAPA’s charter and hoped there would be an opportunity to revisit the charter, which was 20 years old. She announced publication of a new Latino monthly newsletter and encouraged everyone to attend Fiesta Latina. She was pleased with the City Manager’s decision to hire Pete Kerns as police chief. Mr. Brown commented that he had been researching the history of the urban renewal district and would distill the information into a memorandum for other councilors. He attended a Jefferson-Westside Neighborhood meeting. He also attended a McKenzie Watershed Council meeting. Mr. Poling congratulated Pete Kerns on his selection as police chief. He also congratulated those who received awards from the Workforce Partnership and Lane Metro Partnership. As the Travel Lane County liaison he attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Diamond Woods Inn near Monroe and said Travel Lane County was developing a new informational website and continuing work on the Gateway visitor’s center. He announced that there would be a presentation on a new affordable housing development project during the September 16 Harlow Neighborhood Association meeting. He reminded the public that September 18 was the deadline for boards and commissions applications. City Manager Jon Ruiz said he would be attending a meeting of the Fairmount Neighbors, and the Citizens Police Academy would begin during the week. He had made several presentations to community organiza- tions about the joint elected officials’ economic development activities and planning for an economic development summit in October 2009. He attended a recent concert at Cuthbert Amphitheater and praised the venue. B. WORK SESSION: Interstate 5 Willamette River Bridge – Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) Project Update Mr. Ruiz introduced Dick Upton, project manager for the ODOT Interstate 5 (I-5) bridge project. Mr. Upton said a crucial element of the project was the partnerships among ODOT, Eugene and Springfield. He used aerial photographs to illustrate the site and aspects of the project, provide an overview of the bridge design and demonstrate alignment of project components and sequence of construction. He anticipated that construction would be completed in 2012. He said the bridge structure would allow for three lanes in each direction, with the expectation that in the future that section of I-5 would be widened. He said the bridge structure was intended to last 100 years. He stressed that ODOT was working closely with several parks organizations to manage and mitigate impacts to the adjacent sections of Alton Baker Park. Ms. Piercy asked if local contractors were being used for the project and whether a stand of trees that buffered the bike path from I-5 would be preserved. Mr. Upton replied that the two primary contractors on the project for design and construction were local and the use of local subcontractors was being promoted. He said the highway needed to be widened in the section by 12 feet to the west and initial plans indicated that the slope would be cleared; however, during discussions with parks groups the importance of the trees MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 14, 2009 Page 2 Work Session