HomeMy WebLinkAboutAugust 21, 2014 - City Council Newsletter
City of Eugene
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Eugene, Oregon 97401
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www.eugene-or.gov
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER
August 21, 2014
IN THIS EDITION
SUNDAY STREETS COMING TO HARLOW NEIGHBORHOOD SEPTEMBER 21
NEW SKATEBOARD AND BICYCLE LAWS BEING IMPLEMENTED DOWNTOWN
REGIONAL WASTEWATER OPERATIONS FEATURED IN TPO MAGAZINE
EUGENE RECREATION OFFERS MORE FAMILY FUN THIS FALL
ALL AGES: LEARN A LANGUAGE AT LIBRARY WEBSITE
AQUATICS PROGRAM DRAWS CROWDS
GET THE LOW DOWN ON LOW-IMPACT LIVING AT BRING’S HOME AND GARDEN TOUR
AROUND THE CITY
Sunday Streets Coming to Harlow Neighborhood September 21
The next Eugene Sunday Streets event is scheduled for Sept. 21 along a 1.5-mile-long route in the Harlow neighborhood.
The event will run from noon to 4 p.m., with live music, local food, games and family-friendly fun. Streets that will be used
for the event include portions of Harlow Road (Palomino to Honeysuckle
Lane), Palomino Drive, Country Lane and Rustic Place. A section of
Oakmont Way and Sorrel Way will be designated for mixed-use traffic, and
the east side of Coburg Road from Oakway Road to Oakmont will be
temporarily designated as a two-way “cycle track.” City staff has worked
with the Harlow Neighbors in the design of this event.
Eugene Sunday Streets events promote healthy, active living by opening the
city’s largest public space - its streets - for people to walk, bike and roll to
discover active transportation in a safe, traffic-free environment. People are
invited to bring bikes, skateboards, roller blades, or just their own two feet
to enjoy the event on Sept. 21.
Volunteers can sign up at eugenesundaystreets.org/essvolunteer. More information is available at
eugenesundaystreets.org or by contacting Lindsay Selser, transportation options coordinator, at 541-682-5094.
New Skateboard and Bicycle Laws Being Implemented Downtown
On July 28, the Eugene City Council approved new skateboard and bicycle laws that go
into effect on Aug. 29, 2014. The council approved a new downtown no-sidewalk-riding
zone for people skateboarding and bicycling.
The new zone is designed to improve pedestrian safety, simplify the zone for better
public understanding, and to improve enforcement. Riding skateboards or bicycles on
sidewalks inside the zone is a violation of Eugene Code 5.450(2), and violators are
subject to a maximum $50 fine. In the next several weeks, disks will be installed on the
sidewalks in the downtown area to alert people skateboarding and bicycling that they
have entered the no-sidewalk-riding zone and must walk their bikes and carry their
skateboards. Materials are also being produced to provide a map of the new zone and
other helpful information about the new rules.
The council also amended the City Code to allow people to operate an electric-assisted
Draft design for downtown sidewalk disk
bicycle on off-street paths with the electric motor engaged except within the East
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August 21, 2014
Alton Baker Park Plan boundary. This change was made to make Eugene law consistent with state law, to increase the
number of people biking, and because of public requests.
More details on the new laws can be found on the project website at www.eugene-or.gov/bikeskatelaws or by contacting
Lee Shoemaker at 541-682-5471 or lee.shoemaker@ci.eugene.or.us.
Regional Wastewater Operations Featured in TPO Magazine
The Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission’s Biocycle Farm and Water Pollution
Control Facilities were featured in the August issue of “Treatment Plant Operator” (TPO)
magazine. Plant Manager Dave Breitenstein is shown on the cover of the magazine. The article,
“Green Insurance,” focused on the benefits of the City’s diversified biosolids program and
overall program success through community collaboration. Other highlights of the regional
wastewater operations include water reuse (70 million gallons per year) and cogeneration,
which fulfills 55 percent of the plant power requirements and is valued at $300,000 per year.
An electronic copy of the magazine can be viewed online at www.tpomag.com/ezine/2014/08.
For more information, contact Dave Breitenstein at 541-682-8611.
Eugene Recreation Offers More Family Fun This Fall
The Recreation Services Division invites residents to continue summer’s fun into fall with the2014 Fall Eugene Recreation
Guide. The 88-page Recreation Guide includes hundreds of activities from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31, for children as young as
two-and-a-half –years-old to adults of any age.
The guide is now available online at www.eugene-or.gov/recguide. Paper copies are
available for pick up at City community centers, pools and libraries, and 40 other
public locations around town. Those on Recreation’s free subscription list should
receive their copy in this week’s mail.
The cover of the new guide features two archers, both participants of Recreation’s
program to help wounded and injured veterans regain an active lifestyle.
In addition to Recreation’s perennial fall favorites such as “family blackberry raft,”
Campbell Center’s Bazaar, nature hikes, and the Boooo Barn, this guide includes
many new activities that families and individuals will enjoy. Here’s a sampling:
Learn how to enhance photos using close-up digital photography
Tabata interval training workouts
Lessons in advanced sumi-e ink painting
Dance at “Everybody Can Dance”
Learn how to protect one’s privacy online
Learn Italian through cinema
Prepare for high school swimming
Learn to skateboard
Attend the Native American Crafts Fair
For more information about the fall Recreation Guide, call Library, Recreation, and Cultural Services (LRCS) Marketing and
Public Information Manager Kathy Madison at 541-682-6341 or contact her at Kathy.Madison@ci.eugene.or.us.
All Ages: Learn a Language at Library Website
The Eugene Public Library’s Info Hub offers award-winning online language lessons for all ages,
free of charge. The interactive, user-friendly courses are immediately engaging and rewarding.
Use these services anywhere, anytime with an Internet connection and a library card. Or use them
at any Eugene Public Library location -- Downtown, Bethel, or Sheldon -- on an Info Hub computer,
with no library card needed.
For adults and teens, Mango Languages offers interactive lessons for English-speakers in more than
60 languages, including Spanish, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Arabic, Russian, Thai, and Chinese. Mango also offers
courses to learn English for speakers of Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and a dozen other languages. Special features include
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August 21, 2014
movies, focused mini-courses (such as “Romance” in Italian), and the ability to create a user account so each visit begins
where one left off last time.
Children love Muzzy, the most widely-used language-learning program in the world. Created by the BBC, Muzzy targets the
"window of opportunity" years when children can learn new languages naturally and easily in a full-immersion
environment. The self-directed Muzzy program offers fun lessons, animations, games and more to explore in Spanish,
English, Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Russian.
For more information, visit www.eugene-or.gov/library or call the Eugene Public Library at 541-682-5450.
Aquatics Program Draws Crowds
From July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2014, staff recorded 61,700 patron visits to Sheldon Pool, nearly 65,000 visits to Echo Hollow
Pool, and an impressive 93,400 visits to Amazon Pool – despite the fact that Amazon is open only part of the year. That’s a
total of 220,100 visits or 37.5 percent of the attendance recorded for all Recreation programs.
Demand for the City’s pools is very high and comes from a variety of uses.
Sixteen different competitive teams – from high school swimming to University
of Oregon water polo – are accommodated at the pools. Other uses for the pools
include: water aerobics, lap swims, rec swims, swim lessons, school physical
education, Scuba classes, water volley, birthday parties, kayaking, triathlon
training, military training exercises and even baptisms. To meet this demand,
the pools are open for more hours than most Recreation facilities, hosting public
and private programs from 5:30 a.m. until as late as 10:00 p.m.
Swimming lessons are one of the most important uses for the pools. In FY14, the Aquatics program offered more than
1,400 swim lesson classes, including every third-grade student from Pleasant Hill Elementary. The Parent-Teacher
Organization has for many years raised money to transport students to the pool to learn this valuable life skill and gain
knowledge about how to safely have fun in and around the water.
It takes a lot of people to operate the pools. A busy Amazon recreation swim is staffed with 30 people to ensure guests have
fun and stay safe. For this summer, Aquatics hired 51 individuals as lifeguards, instructors, or customer service staff. And,
as staff point out, working at the pools brings many to experience Aquatics full circle. Numerous lifeguard staff were first
introduced to swimming in lessons at a City pool and grew up with Aquatics through the youth programs offered (such as
Summer Swim and Water Polo League or Junior Aquatics Staff) and the competitive teams supported by the pools.
For more information about the Recreation Division’s Aquatics program, contact Aquatics Section Manager Rich Fay, at
541-682-6336 or Rich.J.Fay@ci.eugene.or.us.
Get the Low Down on Low-Impact Living at BRING’s Home and Garden Tour
Low-impact living is the theme of this year’s BRING Home and Garden Tour on Sunday, Sept. 14, from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.,
featuring 10 homes and gardens that make the best possible use of space, energy, and resources. The tour includes green
remodels, cutting-edge new construction, permaculture landscaping,
and designs for downsizing and aging in place. Two of the sites are
striving for net-zero energy use. Tour highlights include a solar
shower, rainwater diverted for domestic use, reuse art, bees,
chickens, shared gardens, and more. Experts will be on hand at all the
sites.
New this year: Free midday workshops and displays will be offered
at Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) on the latest energy
efficient technologies, LED lighting, sustainable gardening, and
electric vehicles. Workshops begin at 11:00 a.m. and noon. Displays
(including the City of Eugene’s Waste Prevention and Green Building
Program) are open from10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Bonus Site: Tour goers are invited to stop in at Wildcraft Cider
Works in the old QSL building, 4 and Lincoln Street, from 3 – 6 p.m., for a look at a green commercial renovation and a
th
chance to mingle with fellow tour goers over a glass of cider (discounted with tour ticket).
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Sponsors: The Tour is co-hosted by the City of Eugene and EWEB, and co-sponsored by Eugene Weekly, Lane Forest
Products, and Mountain Rose Herbs.
Tickets: The Tour is a community education and fundraising event. Tickets are $9 in advance or $12 on the day of tour, and
may be purchased at BRING, Down to Earth, Lane Forest Products, or online at www.bringrecycling.org/tour.
Volunteers: Volunteers are needed to help greet tour goers, sell tickets, and help homeowners with tour day logistics.
Two-hour shifts are available starting at 9:45 a.m. For each shift worked, volunteers receive a Tour ticket and everyone’s
great appreciation! Sign up online at www.bringrecycling.org/tour by following the links for volunteering.
For more information, contact Waste Prevention and Green Building Analyst Stephanie Scafa at 541-682-5652 or visit
bringrecycling.org/tour.
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