CC Newsletter - 09/02/04 - Laserfiche WebLink

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accessibility. The ORPA Voluntary Service Award recognized an exceptional Eugene volunteer for his years of service to Skinner Butte Park. More than eight years ago, Ray Wiley led a campaign to save what he calls "Eugene's crown jewel" - the Skinner Butte overlook - from closure due to excessive vandalism, trash and disrepair in the wake of cuts to maintenance funding. Wiley wrote articles to The Register-Guard, petitioned the mayor and city council and, most importantly, recruited the Eugene Rotary Club to adopt the butte as an ongoing community service project. Since that time, volunteers organized and led by Wiley have made daily stops at the popular overlook area on top of the butte to clean up and keep an eye on things, in addition to organizing annual work days to make major improvements. These efforts have made an enormous difference. Wiley still experiences overwhelming personal gratification every time he visits the butte. "One motivated individual can make big changes in Eugene," he says. Oakmont Park, Eugene's newest neighborhood park, was commended the ORPA Design Award. The 5.5-acre site, constructed during the summer of 2003, is located in an established neighborhood adjacent to the popular Oakway Center. In response to conflicting priorities between a passive park and active recreation needs, Landscape Architect Robin Hostick pushed the boundaries on traditional park design and did more with less to intertwine basic amenities, such as a play area, play field, pathways and small basketball court, with experimental habitat restoration efforts. This creative and cost-effective combination offers activities for multiple generations with diverse interests and redefines what a neighbor-hood park could or should be. For more information about the website, volunteering in parks or the Oakmont Park design, visit www.ci.eugene.or, us/parks or call Therese Picado, public information specialist for the Parks and Open Space Division, at 682-4814. For more information about ORPA, visit www.orpa.org. New School Zone Siqns in Place City of Eugene maintenance crews recently completed revisions to 150 school zone signs to comply with changes made by the 2003 State Legislature. The new law mandates that most of the old signs adjacent to schools that required motorists to slow to 20 mph "when children are present" be replaced with signs reading "at all times" if the underlying speed limit was 30 mph or less. If the underlying speeds were 35 mph or greater, the 20 mph speed limit signs now include posted hours such as "on school days, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.". There are still some crossings that are on school routes but not adjacent to schools that require motorists to drive 20 mph "when children are present." The new law took effect on July 1. The State Traffic Engineer directed that local jurisdictions complete the sign replacement by the beginning of the school year. For more information, contact City Traffic Engineer Tom Larsen at Public Works Maintenance, 682-4959. New Service Results in Biq Savings for Neiqhborhoods Neighborhood Services staff is always looking for ways to make the neighborhood associations' mailings more cost- efficient. Working with the Document and Distribution Services team (formerly Reprographics and Mail Services), staff identified the need for CASS certification, as one way to achieve this. CASS certification decreases the amount of undeliverable mail on large bulk mailings and can save a considerable amount of money. The same software also enables Document and Distribution Services to use a new mail feature for large mailings. It adds bar codes to the addresses as they are printed on postcards. Without the bar codes, the bulk first class postcard rate is 21 cents per item. With the bar codes, the bulk rate drops to 17 cents per item. For the neighborhood associations, this has resulted in noticeable savings. For example, the last Southeast Neighbors postcard cost almost $200 less to mail than the previous postcards without the bar codes. If the total number of neighborhood postcards is the same this year as last, the bar coding feature will save approximately $4000, allowing neighborhood associations to stretch their public information spending authority further. For more information on new cost-saving programs in mail and distribution services, contact Patricia Scarci, Document and Distribution Services manager, at 682-5059 or via e-mail (patricia'a'scarci@ci'eugene'°r'us)' For information about neighborhood associations, please contact Beth Bridges, 682-5272, or Steve Norris, 682-5009, in the Planning and Development Department. They may also be reached via e-mail at beth.b.bridges@ci.eugene.or, us or steve.d.norris@ci.eugene.or, us. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 September 2, 2004