HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/12/08 City Council Newsletter
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER
June 12, 2008
City of Eugene
777 Pearl Street, Room 105
Eugene, Oregon 97401-2793
(541) 682-5010
(541) 682-5414 (FAX)
www.eugene-or.gov
IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION
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10 AND CHARNELTON REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
FIRE TRUCK GIVES ASSIST TO ART PROJECT
SMOKE-TESTING OF SEWER LINES BEGINS JUNE 23 IN CREST DRIVE AREA
EWEB AND CAMPBELL CENTER HELP NEIGHBORS TURN LEMONS INTO LEMONADE
EUGENE SPECIAL EVENTS TEAM (ESET) WEBSITE
CITY STAFFER EARNS WASTE PREVENTION RECOGNITION
NEW HULT CENTER WEBSITE
AT THE HULT CENTER: SPECIAL SEATING ON THE WEB
METROPOLITAN AFFORDABLE HOUSING CORPORATION BREAKS GROUND ON PRAIRIE VIEW
SECOND PHASE UNDERWAY TO EXTEND WASTEWATER SERVICE IN WEST EUGENE
AROUND THE CITY
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10 and Charnelton Request for Proposals
The City of Eugene/Urban Renewal Agency received five responses to the request for proposals for the
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10 and Charnelton development site. The community is invited to learn about the proposals at a public
information session on Tuesday June 17, from 4:30 – 6:30 at the Library. The five applicants are invited
to attend and informally share their ideas and respond to questions from the community. The public is
invited to provide written comments.
On Thursday, June 19, the Eugene Redevelopment Advisory Committee (ERAC), together with the West
Broadway Advisory Committee (WBAC), will review the proposals and make a recommendation. This
meeting will take place at the Library from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. and is open to the public. For more
information, contact Nan Laurence, community development planner at 682-5340 or
nan.laurence@ci.eugene.or.us
Fire Truck Gives Assist to Art Project
Eugene's Fire & EMS Department had an opportunity last week to partner with the Bethel School District
in helping Cascade Middle School sixth-graders complete an art project involving Northwest salmon.
The Sky Art project is the culmination of a
great deal of work for several months for
the students and instructor, Jim Gillespie.
Bethel sixth-graders study the life cycle of
the salmon as part of Oregon's state
curriculum. They started last fall by
studying the water cycle, ground water,
and the importance of clean fresh water.
They then proceeded to the
SalmonWatch program, which is
sponsored by Oregon Trout; this
curriculum concluded with a field trip to
local rivers and creeks so students could
see firsthand the salmon spawning,
sparring, digging redds (nests), laying
eggs, and dying to further the species.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1
June 12, 2008
They also performed water quality experiments and studied the riparian zone while in the field.
Aesthetically, however, the culmination came last week when conceptual photographer Daniel Dancer
was taken 100 feet aloft in the ladder bucket of a reserve fire truck to photograph the students
assembled in the shape of a leaping salmon and the words "Save Our Salmon."
"We have never before pulled off a project this big to honor the salmon and impact the lives of our
students' conscious mind's eye," Gillespie said. "We greatly appreciate the Fire Department's assistance
in making this happen." The photo, which now becomes a part of Dancer's Art for the Sky project
(www.artforthesky.com), was made into postcards that the students could mail or keep as a memento of
the study project. For more information, please contact Joe Zaludek, deputy chief/Special Operations, at
682-7103.
Smoke-Testing of Sewer Lines Begins June 23 in Crest Drive Area
Approximately 35 miles of sanitary sewer lines in south and east Eugene are scheduled to be smoke-
tested beginning Monday, June 23. The testing locates defects and improper connections that allow
stormwater runoff and groundwater to enter the public wastewater collection system. The testing also will
measure the effectiveness of recent wastewater system repairs and provide some insight into the
conditions of the private sewer lines serving homes and businesses.
This year's testing includes portions of the wastewater collection system in the Crest Drive, Friendly,
Southeast, Jefferson Westside and Far West neighborhoods. Testing will begin in the Crest Drive area
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near West 34 Avenue and Tigertail Road and is expected to take several months to complete. During
the tests, which are endorsed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, non-toxic, white smoke is
released into underground sewer lines to identify problems. Residents are notified before testing begins
in their neighborhood. The smoke will not harm plants or animals and will quickly dissipate, leaving no
residue or stains.
After smoke is blown into a sewer line, crew members watch for tell-tale signs of deteriorated lines or
improper connections. White smoke rising from the ground generally indicates a crack or other defect in
a sewer line. Smoke coming from a roof gutter, downspout or area drain indicates that a storm drain is
improperly connected to the wastewater collection system. Deteriorated sewer lines and improper
stormwater connections cause a problem called inflow and infiltration. The region's wastewater
collection and treatment system is designed to carry only so much water and sewage. Inflow and
infiltration of stormwater runoff and groundwater can overload the system, increasing the difficulty and
cost of transporting and treating wastewater.
If smoke-testing reveals a defect in the public portion of the wastewater collection system, the defect is
corrected as soon as possible. If extensive defects are found, capital rehabilitation projects are planned,
funded,and completed, to correct the problem. If smoke-testing identifies a stormwater connection
prohibited in the City code, such as a roof drain connected to the sanitary sewer, the property owner is
notified and is required to correct the problem. If the testing indicates a defect in the private portion of
the sewer (usually in the line that connects the building to the public sewer), the owner is notified of
potential problems with the sewer, and repair or replacement of the defective line is recommended. For
more information, contact Carla Spangler, I/I investigation project manager, at 682-4894.
EWEB and Campbell Center Help Neighbors Turn Lemons into Lemonade
Neighbors in the Skinner Butte area got together for a BBQ dinner at Lamb Cottage and games in the
park Wednesday night while EWEB crews made needed repairs to area electrical lines. The
neighborhood event turned what could have been a dark and inconvenient evening into a fun,
community activity.
The event was the brainchild of Skinner Butte area resident Jeff Gunderson. When he saw the EWEB
door hanger announcing a planned power outage from 4:30 – 11 p.m., he wondered how he and his
neighbors would manage dinner and other routine evening activities. He contacted Yvaughn Tompkins,
program manager at Campbell Community Center, and Mike Logan, EWEB key accounts program
manager, to figure out how to make the best of the situation.
Staff at Campbell Center offered to coordinate a neighborhood dinner at Lamb Cottage, a City rental
facility in Skinner Butte Park that was not affected by the outage. And, since the Campbell Center has a
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2
June 12, 2008
contract for the Energy Assistance Program with EWEB, the center was able to accept a stipend from
EWEB to underwrite the cost of the dinner. Gunderson spread the word of the event in the neighborhood.
EWEB scheduled the outage when a routine inspection revealed several power poles and overhead
wires were in immediate need of repair. Logan explained that without the scheduled outage to maintain
the system, the neighborhood risked an electrical failure that likely would have resulted in a much longer
outage and greater inconvenience. As it turned out, the outage brought a neighborhood together for a
dinner served with, appropriately, fresh squeezed lemonade! For more information, contact Yvaughn
Tompkins, 682-6315.
Eugene Special Events Team (Eset) Website
Last year, the City formed a new, multi-departmental service team to improve the organization’s ability to
help event planners secure permits, licenses and/or rental forms for everything from a wedding rental in
a community center to a large scale event that closes downtown streets. This week, the team is rolling
out a new webpage on the City's site that provides tips and guidance on key items related to special
events, access to PDF copies of applications, links to other agencies, a variety of calendars to see
competing activities, and names and phone numbers of City staff that can assist planners.
The site also includes an online Event Notification Form that will send email alerts to the service team
members about prospective, large-scale events. The service team plans to meet monthly to review
proposals and address issues that arise from the wide range of private and community special events
that occur in area parks, centers, pools, libraries and public rights-of-way.
Thanks to the following team members: Peter Aquilar and Derel Schulz, EPD; Jan Bohman, CMO;
Randy Dewit, EFD, Andy Fernandez and Tim Patrick, Recreation; Kevin Finney and Richard Zucker,
POS; Cathy Joseph, Risk; Katharine Kappa, PDD; Tom Larsen and Donna Stark, PW, and Mark
Loigman, Cultural Services. For more information, contact Tim Patrick at 682-6347.
City Staffer Earns Waste Prevention Recognition
Anne Donahue of Eugene’s Planning and Development Department has received the 2008 Alice
Soderwall Reuse and Waste Prevention Award. The award was presented by the Association of Oregon
Recyclers at its conference in Seaside, June 5-7. The annual award recognizes an individual or
nonprofit organization that has gone “beyond the norm” to reuse materials and prevent waste and has
made a significant impact on the community as a result. Colleagues from around the state nominated
Donahue for the award, noting: “Throughout the state, when waste reduction educators, institutions or
schools have a question about composting, they turn to Anne Donohue for the answers. Anne…works
zealously to research, pilot, prove and spread the word about reducing food and food packaging waste
and composting.” The award was first presented in 1995 and honors the late Alice Soderwall, who
established the BRING Recycling Glass Station in Eugene in the early 1970s.
Donahue has worked in Eugene’s Solid Waste and Recycling Program for nine years, coordinating
organic waste prevention programming and Oregon Green Schools. Some of Donahue’s
accomplishments are helping set up Earth Tubs at six Eugene 4J schools, writing “One Rotten
Curriculum” on best practices for school composting, and organizing two statewide Oregon Green School
summits in Eugene. For more information, please contact Anne Donahue,
anne.c.donahue@ci.eugene.or.us, 682-5542, or Nancy Young, nancy.a.young@ci.eugene.or.us, 682-
6849.
New Hult Center Website
The Hult Center is excited to announce the debut of a new look and upgraded technology for
HultCenter.org. Over six months of work went into the re-design and upgrade of the content
management system, which includes hundreds of ticketed and free-event descriptions, photos, graphics,
and information pages. This fresh, less-cluttered look should make finding information easier for the
approximately 10,000 unique visitors per week. The “old” look and its content management system was
three years old (which in technology terms means “when dinosaurs roamed the earth.”)
The Hult Center is especially appreciative to web designer Dual-Sided Media of downtown Eugene,
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which brought 6 Street Grill to the Hult Center as a sponsor of the re-design, while the Hult Center
provided the budget for the technology upgrades. For more information, please contact Billie Moser, Hult
Center marketing and PR manager, at 541.682.8380.
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June 12, 2008
At The Hult Center: Special Seating on the Web
The opportunity to offer accessible seating assistance via the web has been on the work plan for Cultural
Services and the Hult Center for a long time. Most venues approach this challenge through language on
the web site directing patrons to call their box office, but this does not offer the patron immediate
assistance. The Hult Center is happy to announce that its software provider,Tickets.com, has developed
a solution which offers online purchasing and it is available to ticket buyers immediately.
The online buying page now offers the following language: “Click here or call (541) 682-5000 for
Accessible Seating Requests.” The click-through brings patrons to a form explaining the process to
purchase accessible seating. It offers help for Wheelchair Seating, Mobility Impaired Seating, or Sight
Impaired Seating. The submitted form is e-mailed to the Ticket Office Manager for immediate attention.
This opportunity is available for all shows sold on the internet through the Hult Center ticketing system.
Each form is customized to the 170 paid-admission events per year plus many off-site events for our
resident companies, UO Chamber Music Series, and others that were ticketed through the Hult Center’s
system. For more information, please contact Marcia James Gluz, Hult Center Ticket Office manager, at
541.682.2859.
Metropolitan Affordable Housing Corporation Breaks Ground on Prairie View Housing
Metropolitan Affordable Housing
Corporation held a groundbreaking
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ceremony on June 10 to celebrate
the commencement of construction
for the Prairie View affordable
housing development. Prairie View
will offer 64 rental units affordable
to persons earning below 50% of
the Area Median Income. Units will
be marketed to families with
children, seniors, youth, and other
individual occupants. The City of
Eugene selected Metro to develop
Prairie View through a competitive
request for proposals in 2006. The
City of Eugene provided the land,
HOME funds, and Eugene Systems
Development Charge waivers to support the project. The site for Prairie View is located on Danebo
Road just south of Royal Avenue. Prairie View will incorporate sustainable building practices including
energy efficient appliances, solar units, and other measures. Prairie View will be completed by June
2009. For more information, contact Stephanie Jennings, Planning and Development Department, at
682-5529 or stephanie.a.jennings@ci.eugene.or.us.
Second Phase Underway to Extend Wastewater Service in West Eugene
The second phase of a project to extend wastewater service in west Eugene began June 9 and is
scheduled for completion by this fall. The alignment of the Legacy wastewater interceptor line is from
south of Royal Avenue along the east and north side of the Fern Ridge Path to the intersection of Terry
Street and Roosevelt. All construction for this project is located on easements through private property
or undeveloped City right-of-way, so, with the exception of an increase in dump truck traffic, no
significant public impacts are expected.
This project has been permitted through the Army Corps of Engineers, State Division of Lands and the
Department of Environmental Quality. The first phase of the project was completed in fall 2007 and is
located north of Royal to the intersection of Legacy and Avalon. This wastewater interceptor will serve
the properties within the Eugene Urban Growth Boundary in west and southwest Eugene. For questions
about this project, please contact Michelle Cahill, principal engineer, at 682-6855.
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June 12, 2008