Item 9: Resolution Approving PROS Project and Priority Plan

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April 10, 2006 City of Eugene Board of Councilors My name is Carrol Dower and I live at 1000 Welcome Way. I am an active Bethel citizen and Friend of Golden Garden Ponds, a city park more commonly called "The Pits". We have lost a total of five teen age boys to drowning at Golden Garden Park. Two of which died last June. These were responsible adolescent boys, who knew how to swim. All the drowning has occurred in the same pond. This undeveloped park is frequented almost exclusively by teens, for fishing, swimming and riding dirt bikes. It has little appeal to adults, and families. We will present many ideas on how this park can be safe and appeal to everyone. Golden Garden Park is not scheduled for development for 20 years out. The Citizens of Bethel want the development of the park to be moved into a more current plan, beginning with this fiscal year. We have a rapidly growing community, and a large portion of that populous is adolescent and children. In fact, we have 6,000 children enrolled in eleven Bethel schools. We cannot express deeply enough how important the development of this park means to us. The rescue effort last June was greatly hampered by not having a bridge to access the ponds. EMS had to abandon their vehicles and run on foot with heavy gear a good distance to reach the boys in trouble. We acknowledge a special thank you to Johnny Medlin, the city park's director, for moving the construction of the access bridge to completion as soon as possible. We understand the initial development of the park requires a feasibility study for an appropriate design. We ask the council here tonight to appropriate this funding in the amount of $30,000. In addition to this expenditure, we also request purchasing of a 100 foot strip on the west side for grading as part of the November Bond Measure. Currently, the city does have a schedule for acquiring more land here. We have been given tremendous support and technical expertise by our City of Eugene Parks & Recreation, the Fire dept and Ems personnel, as well as our ward representative. They have all contributed and helped us shape the five page outline of our development ideas submitted before you. We need: signs, noting the danger, signs noting the geography, signs appropriate to each of the four ponds: NO Swimming, Fishing here. We need: Names for the ponds. We need an open road, so families can look after one another. We need an access bridge over the slue to the ponds, which is forthcoming. We need a key for the gate, for EMS or a key held at one of the many houses facing the park. We need life jackets or floatation devices. Fire and EMS have a whole program for obtaining floatation devices. But mostlv we need this Dark to hitch a ride on the fast track and Qet it aDDroved for develoDment now. And finally, where there is a body of water, there is danger. I ask the council to consider the request to develop Golden Garden Park, urgent as well as opportunistic.