11/10/11 - City Council Newsletter

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International Human Rights Day Community Celebration Set for December 6 The City’s Human Rights Commission and the Community Coalition for the Advancement of Human Rights are working collaboratively to host an International Human Rights Day event on Dec. 6, from 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. in the Atrium th Building, 99 West 10 Avenue, in downtown Eugene. Mayor Kitty Piercy will open the event, followed by guest speakers on the topics of immigrant integration and homelessness. Rounding out the evening will be a nationally known human rights advocate and defender, Ajamu Baraka. The evening promises to be a night to remember. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Michelle Mortensen at 541-682-6378 or michelle.e.mortensen@ci.eugene.or.us. West Bank Multi-Use Path Extension to Open This Weekend Work has been completed on a $1.6 million extension of the Ruth Bascom Riverbank Path in the River Road-Santa Clara area, and the multi-use path extension will be open for public use beginning this weekend. Knife River Corporation, working under contract to the Eugene Public Works Department, began work early this year to extend the path from River Avenue, under the Randy Papé Beltline, along Division Avenue to Beaver Street. The primary source of funding for the project was a federal transportation enhancement grant administered by the Oregon Department of Transportation. The project extends the existing West Bank Trail to connect the River Road and Santa Clara neighborhoods. Previously, bicyclists and pedestrians wishing to cross the Beltline corridor had to use River Road, a busy arterial street with five lanes of traffic moving approximately 32,000 vehicles a day. The extended trail provides a safer option that reduces the number of vehicle conflicts with pedestrian and bicycle movements. The project also provides a connection from Eugene’s Bascom Riverbank Trail System to the street system north of Beltline. The new 12-foot-wide, concrete path is about 3,200 feet long and includes pedestrian-scale lighting, a retaining wall next to the Willamette River under Beltline, and an undercrossing at the main truck entrance to the Delta Sand & Gravel yard on Division Avenue. The extension to the West Bank Path segment brings the total length of the Riverbank Path system to approximately 14.5 miles: 2.7 miles on the West Bank Path, four miles on the South Bank Path, 2.8 miles on the East Bank Path, and five miles on the North Bank Path. The path system is named for former Mayor Ruth Bascom, who was an avid cyclist and a strong advocate for bicycling facilities in Eugene. Also this summer, the segment of the South Bank Path was reconstructed from Greenway Bridge to the RiverPlay Discovery Village Playground in Skinner Butte Park using voter-approved bond measure funds. For more information, contact Project Manager Patrick Cox at 541-682-6854. City Staff Participates in State Initiative on Waste In an innovative, new approach to waste management, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is developing a long-term "Materials Management 2050 Vision." The aim is to reduce environmental impacts by managing materials throughout their lifecycle – including extraction, production, use and end-of-life management - not just when the materials become waste. Babe O'Sullivan, sustainability liaison in the City Manager's Office, is part of the stakeholder group helping the DEQ develop a statewide vision and action plan. Information and background materials can be found at http://www.deq.state.or.us/lq/sw/materialsmgmtplan.htm. Oregon DEQ is at the forefront of research and policy exploring the important relationship between consumption, materials management and climate change. The agency recently released a new statewide consumption-based inventory of greenhouse gases that is the first of its kind in the nation. Participation in the DEQ effort supports work on the Community Climate and Energy Action Plan. To see related reports go to http://www.deq.state.or.us/lq/consumptionbasedghg.htm. For more information, please contact Babe O’Sullivan at babe.osullivan@ci.eugene.or.us or 541-682-5017. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 November 10, 2011