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Home My WebLink About08/07/08 City Council Newsletter EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER August 7, 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 E.M.S. SECTION READIES FOR ROLE IN HOSPITAL MOVE CITY’S BUSINESS LOAN PROGRAM FINANCES DOWNTOWN SOFTWARE COMPANY BEIJING OLYMPICS COME TO PETERSEN BARN COMMUNITY CENTER FREE GENEALOGY WORKSHOP AT EUGENE PUBLIC LIBRARY CAUTION – POTHOLE REPAIRS AHEAD NEW TRAFFIC SAFETY CAMPAIGN MAKES STREETS SAFER FOR ALL ROADWAY USERS AROUND THE CITY E.M.S. Section Readies for Role In Hospital Move To move 150 to 200 non-ambulatory patients from Sacred Heart Hospital's University location to the new hospital at Riverbend, the hospital has contracted with Eugene Fire & EMS for medical transport services, which will be delivered on Sunday, August 10. There will be no interruption or reduction of regular Eugene ambulance services. Instead, the City will use some of its reserve units and medics on an overtime basis, and has also subcontracted with Eugene Rural Fire/Rescue, Springfield Fire and Life Safety, AMR Ambulance, and Metro West Ambulance. A total of 20 ambulances will be used in the move, including two pediatric units and two neonatal units. In addition, Life Flight helicopter services will be available if needed. A practice drill was conducted two weeks ago. Sunday's actual move will begin at 7:00 a.m., and is expected to continue until approximately 6:00 p.m. The principal route will be via Coburg Road, I-105, I-5, and Beltline Road, but alternate routes have been identified as a contingency. No roads will be closed due to the move. For more information, please contact Denise Giard, deputy chief of administration, Eugene Fire & EMS Department at 682-7111. City’s Business Loan Program Finances Downtown Software Company The City’s Business Development Fund, administered out of the Planning & Development Department, recently provided a $125,000 loan to Celestial Software LLC for the purchase of Lunar Logic, a local software company located downtown. In combination with private funds, the City loan allowed the operations manager to purchase the business from the prior owners, who will retain and create jobs. Started over twenty years ago, the self-sustaining revolving loan fund is designed to create jobs for the community and leverage private investment. Since July 1, 2007, the City has approved 13 local business loans totaling $1.29 million, which will lead to the creation of 66 jobs and leverage an additional $7,474,800 in private investment. A few of the loan recipients include Green Gear (makers of Bike Friday folding bicycles), Bare Bones Dog Wash, Whiteaker Station (coffee shop & deli), Avant Assessment (software development company), Ke Kau Chocolatier, EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1 August 8, 2008 and Out of Hand (custom-design, handcrafted papercrafts). For more information, contact Amanda Nobel, Community Development Division loan analyst at 682-5535 or via e-mail (amanda.r.nobel@ci.eugene.or.us). Beijing Olympics Come to Petersen Barn Community Center Recreation Services’ Youth and Family Program will host “Beijing at the Barn” on four evenings in August. Community members are invited to come together and cheer for their favorite athletes as they watch the Beijing Olympic competition on the big screen. On Friday, August 8, the Olympics Opening Ceremony will be shown from 6:00 -10:00 p.m. Also that evening, Pete Barn’s monthly Free Family Fun Night will be held. That event includes family games, activities, and dinner (served until 7:00 p.m.). Olympic events, including track and field, will be shown on the big screen from 5:00 -9:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 17, and from 6:00 -10:00 p.m. on August 19 and 22. The final day of track and field events will be shown Saturday, August 23, from 5:00 -9:00 p.m. For more information, contact Craig Smith at 682-6340. Free Genealogy Workshop at Eugene Public Library Researching a family tree used to take expert knowledge -- and sometimes, substantial cost. But in recent years, the Internet and electronic databases have made do-it-yourself genealogy far easier, more rewarding, and less expensive. On Saturday, August 9, 10:00 a.m. - noon, the Downtown Eugene Public Library will host a free hands- on computer class introducing user-friendly resources such as HeritageQuest, Ancestry, FamilySearch, RootsWeb, and the US GenWeb Project. Participants will learn which steps to take first, where to order vital records, how to search the U.S Census, and more. Many of the featured resources are available free of charge through the Eugene Public Library or on the Web. Basic Internet skills are required. Pre-register by calling the Eugene Public Library at 682-5450 (press 2). Caution – Pothole Repairs Ahead Eugene’s expanded pothole repair program is gearing up and will hit the streets next week. The City Council approved a $1 million increase in pothole repair funding for FY09. The Public Works Department is in the process of hiring three, limited-duration employees to form the nucleus of a proactive “pothole patrol.” That work will supplement the existing street repair services provided by the Public Works Maintenance Division. On Wednesday, August 13, the first of several maintenance overlays on badly potholed streets is scheduled to take place. A paving crew from Eugene Sand & Gravel, working under contract to the Maintenance Division, will patch a two- block section of Arcadia Drive in northeast Eugene. Maintenance overlays are an efficient way to temporarily repair surface areas containing numerous potholes on unimproved streets. Arcadia Drive was selected for repair in part because of the street’s deteriorating condition. How long the repairs last is determined by factors such as the overall condition of the street and traffic loads. Signs have been created to identify pothole repair work sites. The Public Works Department has also created a web site (www.eugene-or.gov/pothole) that provides information about the pothole repair program and includes a link to an online pothole reporting form. Residents also can report potholes by calling the Maintenance Division at 682-4800. For more information about the expanded pothole repair program, contact Eric Johnson, surface operations manager at 682-4904. New Traffic Safety Campaign Makes Streets Safer for All Roadway Users Eye to Eye is a new multi-city traffic safety campaign created to foster a culture of awareness and respect on shared paths and roadways and to make local streets safer for motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians. The City of Eugene is partnering with the Greater Eugene Area Riders (GEARs) and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) to launch this campaign. In addition to encouraging empathy and respect on the roadway, the Eye to Eye message will be used in conjunction with specific information to educate all road users on what they can do to be safe, including making eye contact with, and communicating with, other road users, looking for bicyclists, stopping for pedestrians, using lights at night and following traffic laws. The Eye to Eye campaign will kick off August 13 with press conferences in Portland and Eugene. The Eye to Eye web page will also be live by that time. Several community events are scheduled to follow including bell and light giveaways, crosswalk awareness actions and professional truck driver/cyclist EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 August 8, 2008 awareness events. In October, the first Eye to Eye public service announcement will be unveiled -- a piece targeted at young drivers. Staff hopes to show the PSA in movie theaters during the holidays and continue developing and fundraising for PSAs and ads for another big campaign push in spring/summer 2009. The Eugene- th Springfield area press conference will be held Wednesday, August 13, at 10:00 a.m. at the intersection of 24 Avenue and the Amazon Path (just east of Amazon Parkway). Participants include Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy, Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken, State Representative Floyd Prozanski, AAA representing the driving community, GEARs representing the bicycling community, the Jane Higdon Foundation, and Eugene’s Fire & EMS, Police and Public Works departments. For more information, contact Transportation Planning Technician Lindsay Selser at 682-5094. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 August 8, 2008