HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Newsletter - 07/06/06
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER
July 6, 2006
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
RIVERPLAY DISCOVERY VILLAGE PLAYGROUND GRAND OPENING JULY 8
TOUR OF LOCAL BICYCLE MANUFACTURERS SLATED FOR FRIDAY, JULY 14
EPD TO RECEIVE ACHIEVEMENT IN LAW ENFORCEMENT VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS AWARD
CITY SPONSORS PUBLIC TALK ON RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF BICYCLISTS
GO! WRITE! TRAVEL WRITING FAIR AT THE LIBRARY
BICYCLE SAFETY EVENTS TEACH SKILLS AND OFFER FREE HELMENTS TO YOUNGSTERS
RIVER FESTIVAL PROMISES SUMMERTIME FAMILY FUN
REPAIRS TO BRICKS ON BROADWAY ALLOW MORE TIME FOR LONG-TERM SOLUTION
AROUND THE CITY
RiverPlay Discovery Village Playground Grand Opening July 8
The much-anticipated grand opening of Eugene’s first destination
playground is finally here. The City of Eugene and the Eugene Rotary
Club invite councilors and community members to help celebrate with
an afternoon of ribbon-cutting, dedications, live music, free BBQ,
games and much more on Saturday, July 8, from noon to 4 p.m.
One hundred years after the first city park was established, Eugene’s
largest, most unique playground is opening in the heart of Skinner Butte
Park. A 1998 Parks and Open Space bond measure provided $780,000
in seed money to begin the project. The Eugene Rotary Clubplayed a
vital role in the development of the park by volunteering during the
demolition and installation phase and helping to raise an additional
$400,000 from local businesses and granting organizations.
Community members participated by purchasing and inscribing over
1,000 entryway bricks as part of the “One Brick at a Time” campaign.
Major donors for the project include Meyer Memorial Trust,
Eugene/Springfield New Car Dealers Association, Kelley Family
Foundation, Van Evera and Janet M. Bailey Fund of The Oregon
Local bronze artist and friends install the
Community Foundation, Wells Fargo, Chambers Family Foundation,
life-size Ichthyosaur at the Ancient History
Eugene Water and Electric Board’s Education Fund, Jerry's Home
Sand Dig.
Improvement Center, and Valley River Center.
For more information, contact Carrie Peterson, park development coordinator, at 682-4907 or
carrie.a.peterson@ci.eugene.or.us, or Robin Hostick, principal landscape architect, at 682-4915, 954-
1546, or robin.a.hostick@ci.eugene.or.us.
Tour of Local Bicycle Manufacturers Slated for Friday, July 14
A biking tour of the local bicycle manufacturing industry will be held Friday, July 14. The “Tour de
Eugene Bike Builders” will provide members of the public with an opportunity to visit four prominent
bicycle manufacturers – all based in Eugene – and see what goes on within each of the small- to
medium-sized facilities.
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July 6, 2006
The tour begins at the Lane County Fairgrounds Wheeler Building Pavilion at 2:30 p.m. and is expected
to conclude by 5:30 p.m. Stops include (in order): Co-Motion Cycles, 4765 Pacific Avenue; Burley
th
Design, 4020 Stewart Road; Bike Friday, 3364 West 11 Avenue; and The Center for Appropriate
Transport, 455 West 1st Avenue. The City has made economic development loans through the Business
Development Loan Program to encourage business formation and expansion in the past to Burley’s
development and, more recently, to Bike Friday and Co-Motion.
Participants are asked to bring a bike and a helmet. The tour is one of a number of events being held in
conjunction with July-in-Motion. For more information contact David Roth, Public Works Engineering, at
682-5727, or david.f.roth@ci.eugene.or.us.
EPD to Receive Achievement in Law Enforcement Volunteer Programs Award
The Eugene Police Department’s Volunteers in Policing Program has been selected to
receive the 2006 Outstanding Achievement in Law Enforcement Volunteer Programs Award.
Co-sponsored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the Science
Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the award has been issued annually since
2004 to recognize law enforcement agencies that have developed and implemented
creative and effective law enforcement volunteer programs. Each year, three law
enforcement volunteer programs are eligible for the award. The award presentation will be
held in October at the annual IACP Conference in Boston.
The goal of the award is to recognize excellence in leadership through the implementation
of an effective, high-quality volunteer program that successfully integrates volunteers into
overall organizational operations and administration, and to institutionalize the theories and
practices of the National Volunteers in Police Service Program (www.policevolunteers.org).
The Eugene Police Department’s Volunteers in Policing Program has grown from eight volunteers
providing support in a handful of clerical positions in 1999 to 85 volunteers serving in a multitude of
administrative and field assignments in 2006. In 2005, 115 volunteers donated nearly 19,000 hours of
service. Current volunteers range in age from 17 to 87. From the youth who file police reports and enter
data in the Records Section to the retirees who provide a home vacation check service to Eugene
residents, the efforts of volunteers better allow civilian and sworn employees to focus their time on front-
line duties. For more information, contact Volunteers in Policing Program Coordinator Carrie Chouinard
at 682-5355 or carrie.f.chouinard@ci.eugene.or.us.
City Sponsors Public Talk on Rights and Responsibilities of Bicyclists
Ray Thomas, Portland bike attorney and advocate for the rights of bicyclists, will speak to the public in
the Eugene Library Tykeson-Bascom Room at 6 p.m. on Wednesday July 12. He will also speak at an
earlier session at 3:30 p.m. in the Eugene Library oriented to law enforcement, planning and engineering
personnel and other representatives of government. Both sessions are designed to help foster a safety-
oriented attitude for all users of the roadway.
Thomas is a member of the Oregon state and federal courts and has a doctorate from Lewis and Clark
Law School. He is the author of People Power- a Legal Guide for Oregon Bicyclists and has written
many articles regarding bicycle-related laws and safety. Thomas regularly commutes by bicycle and
leads noontime rides in the Portland area.
Thomas will provide information about Oregon laws related to the rights and responsibilities of bicyclists
and motorists, including riding on the roadway and sidewalks, obeying traffic signs, and yielding to
pedestrians. He will also inform bicyclists about how to deal with insurance companies and the courts if
involved in a collision. He will provide free copies of People Power to those attending the safety and
education sessions.
This talk is part of July-in-Motion, the City's month-long walking and biking promotion. For more
information about July-in-Motion, go to the City Features Links section at www.eugene-or.gov or contact
Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator Lee Shoemaker at 682-5471 or lee.shoemaker@ci.eugene.or.us.
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July 6, 2006
Go! Write! Travel Writing Fair at the Library
Eugene Public Library’s third annual Writers’ Fair, "Go! Write! Travel Writing," joins in the travel theme
of Summer Reading for Adults 2006. Learn from experts, ask questions, and meet local writers at this
free event on Sunday, July 16, 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. at the Downtown Library.
Panelist Myrna Oakley (Oregon: Off the Beaten Path) talks about the freelance writing and marketing
process. Writer and instructor Gail Davis shares expertise on self-publishing and travel writing. Brandon
Barnett of Multnomah County Library tells how she and two other librarians created and published an
award-winning Internet travel guide for a local audience.
Library visitors can sign up for Summer Reading for Adults, pick up official review forms, and receive a
coupon worth $1 towards used books at the Friends of the Library's Second Hand Prose book store, or a
free coffee at Novella Café, both located at the Downtown Library.
Participants who return three brief reviews will receive a free journal (while supplies last), and are
entered in a drawing for one of three Library book bags filled with great reads, plus gift certificates from
Destinations: The Travel Store and LetterHead Fine Papers & Gifts. For more information, contact the
Eugene Public Library at 682-5450.
Bicycle Safety Events Teach Skills and Offer Free Helmets to Youngsters
To promote safe bike riding among young people in Eugene, the City's Transportation Options Team will
be conducting bicycle safety events at affordable housing developments across the city over the next
several months.
The first bike safety event will take place at Woodleaf Village in south Eugene from 2 to 5 p.m. on
Thursday, July 13. Woodleaf Village is owned by Metropolitan Affordable Housing Corporation and was
developed with City assistance in 1998. At this event, City staff will teach young people who live at
Woodleaf Village bicycle safety tips and will also offer a free helmet to those who are in need of one.
Oregon law requires children under the age of 16 to wear helmets when bicycling, inline skating,
skateboarding, or riding a scooter (ORS 814.485 & 814.600). For more information, contact
Transportation Options Coordinator Cindy Clarke at 682-5285 or cindy.j.clarke@ci.eugene.or.us.
River Festival Promises Summertime Family Fun
The Whiteaker Neighborhood River Festival, the second in the series of
summer festivals presented by Eugene Recreation Services, will be held
from 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday, July 21. This family-oriented event is free and
includes river kayaking demonstrations, Oregon’s largest slip-n-slide, story-
telling by Eugene Library staff, water safety information, food, and lots of
other entertainment, including live music by “Mariachi Gallos De America”
from 6 to 7 p.m.
It all takes place in Skinner Butte Park, behind the River House, at 301 N.
Adams Street. The first festival in the summer series, the We Are Bethel Celebration, was held on June
3 at Petersen Barn. The Multicultural Festival will be held on August 11 at Sheldon Community Center.
For information about the River Festival, call the River House at 682-5329.
Repairs to Bricks on Broadway Allow More Time for Long-Term Solution
The brick pavers in the Willamette Plaza area at Broadway and Willamette Street were installed in 1996
as part of the Willamette Street opening. Unlike the bricks on Willamette and on Broadway at the alley
crossings east and west of the plaza, the brick paving in the plaza was originally designed for pedestrian
traffic and not for the wear of continual automobile traffic. When Broadway was opened in 2002 very
minor modifications were made to convert the portion of the plaza in the street area for vehicular traffic.
These modifications included better drainage for the street, tactile warnings where people might enter the
street from the walking areas, and bollards to help control movement between street and plaza. No
changes were made to the actual brickwork in the plaza at that time.
Over the past several months, staff has been reviewing the condition of the bricks in the plaza. The
bricks have begun to fail and the failure area is expanding. Analysis has been done on a variety of long-
term repair options as well as on timing considerations. The conclusions of the analysis are that
substantial work is needed to fix the failing brick problem, that repair options should be coordinated with
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3
July 6, 2006
related downtown projects, including the Parks Blocks Master Plan effort currently under way, and that
there should be opportunities for downtown stakeholders and other interested parties to be involved.
Timing considerations include doing the work when it doesn’t conflict with major community uses of the
plaza and bidding the job when favorable responses are likely.
In the meantime, short-term remedial repair work such as replacing bricks with asphalt will continue on
an as-needed schedule to minimize further damage, potential injury and liability. Staff and Broadway
design professionals will convene to discuss the permanent changes necessary to maintain a safe and
esthetic great street environment on Broadway at the plaza area, and to ensure the fix complements
other downtown work while minimizing maintenance costs. For more information, contact Project
Engineer Michelle Cahill at 682-6855.
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July 6, 2006