HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Newsletter - 05/05/05EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER
May 5, 2005
City of Eugene
777 Pearl Street, Room 105
Eugene, Oregon 97401-2793
(541) 682-5010
(541) 682-5414 (FAX)
www.ci.eugene.or, us
SYMANTEC PARTNERS WITH RECREATION SERVICES DIVISION
FACILITIES STAFF HONORED FOR ROLE IN DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION
MEXICAN EXCHANGE STUDENTS HELP STREAM TEAM WITH RESTORATION WORK
Symantec Partners with Recreation Services Division
City of Eugene Aquatics is pleased to announce that
Symantec's Corporate Giving Program has pledged $1,000
to co-sponsor the 2005 Summer Swim and Water Polo
League (SSWPL). The SSWPL is a nine-week, beginner
competitive program for Iow-income and at-risk youths ages
8-14. Coached by experienced staff, participants will be
involved in team-oriented practices and competitions three
days a week. At the program's completion, participants will
have the skills to enter USA Swimming - Water Polo club
programs and high school swimming and water polo
programs. Recreation staff also hopes participants will
develop an interest in lifeguard and instructor positions for Aquatics!
For more information, contact aquatics facility supervisors Doug Smith at 682-6336, or Rich Fay at
682-5331.
Facilities Staff Honored for Role in Downtown Revitalization
Congratulations to the Facility Management Division, which was recognized twice at the 2nd Annual
Downtown Eugene Excellence Awards Celebration, "Building Community Through Downtown
Revitalization." The event, hosted by the City Club of Eugene and Downtown Eugene, Inc. was held
Friday, April 22.
The top award in the Physical Development category, presented by City Councilor Andrea Ortiz, went to
the entire 11-person Downtown and Parking Structure crew, acknowledging their first-rate work to
enhance the downtown environment.
The look and shape of downtown facilities has changed significantly since the crew was first charged with
maintaining the old downtown mall, two City-owned parking structures and the Park Blocks. With
the reopening of Olive Street, Willamette Street, and most recently Broadway, and the construction of
two new parking structures, Broadway Place and Pearl Street Garage, the crew continues to provide
critical maintenance services to public areas in the downtown core. The crew also provides landscape
maintenance at City Hall, plants and maintains all of the flower pots in the core area, and has recently
been involved in the native planting program at the Park Blocks. This spring they will be adding the
maintenance of approximately 75 hanging flower baskets along Broadway, Willamette and Olive streets.
The Eugene Depot restoration project received an honorable mention award, also in the Physical
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1
May 5, 2005
Development category. The award was presented by Dave Yarborough, Amtrak Station Manager, who
complimented Facilities Project Manager Russ Mecredy, the architectural firm of WBGS and the
contractor, Morris Keilty, for their exceptional effort in modernizing the depot while retaining the historic
character of the building and keeping the station operational during the construction process.
Kudos to Facilities Management for these acknowledgements from the downtown community for the
division's efforts to support a vital city center. For more information contact Glen Svendsen, 682-5008.
Mexican Exchanqe Students Help Stream Team with Restoration Work
For the third year in a row, middle and high school
students from Guanajuato, Mexico, spent a day with
Eugene Stream Team, learning about the many
ways in which the City of Eugene protects and
improves water quality and fish and wildlife habitat.
Last Tuesday, students and their chaperones from
Guanajuato, Mexico, who were participating in a
two-week exchange program with Oak Hill School,
helped remove the invasive oyster plant along the
section of Pre's Trail that runs through the
Whilamut Natural Area of Alton Baker Park. They
also helped mulch the native trees and shrubs
planted last February by several crews of
volunteers in the same area. During lunch at the
native plant nursery, Stream Team Coordinator
Lorna Baldwin and one long-time nursery volunteer
talked about how Stream Team volunteers help with
the full cycle of restoration--from salvaging native
plants and propagating them at the nursery to re-planting them in natural areas across the city.
One of the leaders of the Mexico group was part of the first group of students who visited Eugene six
years ago. He is now 22-years-old and studying water resources in an hydraulic engineering program at
a college in his hometown. "We learned about issues of watersheds and water quality and how we can
apply what you are doing here in Eugene in my community in Mexico," he said. Stream Team
Coordinator Lorna Baldwin has been invited to join the Oak Hill students who will be visiting Guanajuato
next March and do some classroom instruction about water quality issues. "We won't make her work
though," the young man quipped.
The Oak Hill exchange program is organized by Armando Morales, who teaches Spanish at the school.
Morales has organized exchanges between students at Oak Hill and from his hometown in Mexico for the
past nine years. For more information about the Oak Hill exchange program, call 744-0954. For more
information about this and other Stream Team projects, call Lorna Baldwin at 682-4850 or e-mail
Iorna.j.baldwin@ci.eugene.or. us.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2
May 5, 2005