07/29/10 - City Council Newsletter

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For more information, please contact Acting-in-Capacity Maintenance Director Jim McLaughlin at 541-682-4800. “What Do You Know About H0?” for Kids of All Ages at the Library 2 The Downtown Eugene Public Library will overflow with laughs and surprises on First Friday, August 6, at 6 p.m., when kids of all ages are invited to “What Do You Know about H0?” 2 Admission is free. In this smart, funny show, the entertaining educators of Mad Science illustrate the magic of water and share everyday ways to protect this crucial resource. This special First Friday event for all ages is inspired by the Summer Reading theme, "Make Waves.” For more information, or to pre-register, contact the Eugene Public Library at 541-682-8316. Junior Aquatics River Safety Training Day Every summer, the City’s Aquatics Program hires dozens of lifeguards to meet the public’s increased demand for recreational and lap swimming. For many of the new hires, this is their first job. To ensure there is a pool of qualified applicants each year, the Aquatics Program offers a class called Junior Aquatics Staff (JAS) for aspiring lifeguards, ages 12-15 years. Traditionally, during the popular month-long class, JAS students learn the duties of lifeguards at the City’s swimming pools and gain pre-job experience by assisting and training with lifeguards, and providing aid to learn-to-swim instructors. They receive American Red Cross GuardStart training and Water Instructor Aide certification. This year, the Aquatics Program added one more aspect to its training day – this one on the Willamette River. Outdoor Program staff taught the pool-trained youth how to properly fit and use life jackets, how to right a flipped raft (see photo), how to swim defensively in rapids and how to rescue a swimmer with a throw-bag from shore. For more information, contact Aaron Wirth at 541-682-6367. th Reconstruction Excavation on East 18 Avenue Yields Historical Find The sharp eyes of City construction inspectors allowed an early piece of Willamette Valley history to be saved. th Last week, during roadway excavation on 18 Avenue, just east of Patterson Street, a construction worker for Wildish Construction Company pointed out an unusual-shaped object to Glen Fee, an inspector in the Public Works Engineering Division. At a quick glance, the eight- inch- diameter object appeared to be a flat stone, but Fee and lead worker Doug Reubell thought it had a “man- made” quality to it. After a quick huddle with Project Manager Jenifer Willer, Rick Minor at Heritage Research Associates was called to the site for further investigation. “This is a most interesting artifact,” Minor wrote in a preliminary report. He believes it may be a hopper mortar. A basket without a bottom would sit over the stone, and a pestle or maul would be used to crush or mash vegetal foods on the rock's surface, with the basket serving to keep the vegetal material in one place. He is seeking additional opinions to confirm his initial finding. th The stone artifact was not original to the East18 Avenue site where it was found. It was brought in as imported fill- Stone artifacts such as this one were used for several millennia th material when the roadbed for 18 Avenue was originally by native people, up to the time of historic contact. constructed. Much of the stone used in roadbeds in Eugene comes from gravel bars along the Willamette River. Because the artifact was within the imported fill- EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 July 29, 2010