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Home My WebLink AboutCC Newsletter - 02/05/04EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER February 5, 2004 City of Eugene 777 Pearl Street, Room 105 Eugene, Oregon 97401-2793 (541) 682-5010 (541) 682-5414 (FAX) www. ci.eugene.or, us EUGENE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PRESENTS AWARDS TO CITY OF EUGENE CITY WINS LEAGUE OF OREGON CITIES SAFETY AWARD ELECTIONS 2004 UPDATE VOLUNTEERS BRAVE DAMP WEATHER TO TEND RIVERBANK NEAR AUTZEN FOOTBRIDGE PARKS STAFF TACKLES LARGE TREE IN AMAZON CREEK CITY SINGERS: HARMONIZING ACROSS DEPARTMENTS LIBRARY RECEIVES HIGH MARKS IN COMMUNITY SURVEY Eugene Chamber of Commerce Presents Award to City of Eugene At its annual Celebration of Business dinner on Wednesday, January 28, the Eugene Chamber of Commerce presented the City of Eugene with an award for work promoting an "Open for Business" culture. Executive Managers Tom Coyle and Kurt Corey, from the Planning and Development and Public Works departments, accepted a framed International Star Registry certificate on behalf of the City. The certificate represents the efforts of the Planning and Development, Public Works, and Fire departments in improving service in 2003. The new star name of "Eugene" and telescopic coordinates will be placed in the International Star Registry's vault in Switzerland and recorded in the astronomical compendium "YOUR PLACE IN THE COSMOS" to be filed in the United States Copyright Office. The framed certificate will be placed in the reception area at the Permit and Information Center. Congratulations to the leadership and staff of PDD, PW and Fire who worked hard to make it easier to do business in Eugene. For more information, contact Tom Coyle at 682-6077, or via e-mail at tom.~q.coyle@ci.eu~qene.or, us. City Wins Leaque of Oreqon Cities Safety Award The City of Eugene was the recipient of a Silver Safety Award in the 2003 League of Oregon Cities/City County Insurance Services (CIS) Annual Safety Award Contest. The award represents a successful safety program with few or no lost time days for the reporting period. The award is based on the number of lost time injury cases per 100 full-time employees. The Injury Frequency Rate for the City of Eugene was 1.81 for the fiscal year 2002-2003. CIS Executive Director Noel Klein said, "Any city that becomes a safety award medalist can be proud, as this represents recognition for having achieved great success with excellent results." This marks the third consecutive year the City of Eugene has received the Silver Safety Award which recognizes the continued safe work performance of City of Eugene employees and their contribution to a dedicated proactive safety program. The framed award certificate is on display in the HRRS lobby at City Hall, Room 101. For more information contact Mike Pungercar at 682-5762. Elections 2004 Update ~ Mayoral candidate Eric Gross (Sephiroth) filed his completed petition with the City Recorder's Office on January 29. Kitty Piercy filed a prospective petition for Mayor on January 30. On the City Council side, Betty Taylor completed the filing process February 2. Also on February 2, EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1 March 17, 2004 Michael Carrigan and Majeska Seese-Green filed prospective petitions for Ward 7. Mr. Carrigan filed his completed petition on February 4. Calls from people requesting information about becoming a candidate are increasing. Two callers have scheduled appointments later this week to file prospective petitions: Maurie Denner and Kevin Gore. Filing deadline is March 4 at 5 p.m. The City's Elections website at www.ci.eugene.or, us/cityreco/Elections will continue to be updated each time a candidate initiates or completes filing. For more information, contact City Recorder Mary Feldman at 682-8353. Volunteers Brave Damp Weather to Tend Riverbank Near Autzen Footbridqe Undaunted by the cold, damp weather last Saturday afternoon, about 20 students from the University of Oregon and Lane Community College along with volunteers from Eugene Stream Team dug up blackberry plants and planted native plants along the Willamette River just downstream from the Autzen Footbridge. The students belong to Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG), whose local membership, in partnership with Stream Team, has adopted the riverbank near Autzen Footbridge in an effort to improve habitat for spring Chinook salmon and other plants and animals dependent on a healthy river ecosystem. Volunteers, many of whom have worked on the site for the past three work parties, built on previous work by the group, cutting and digging out blackberries and replanting the area with plants from Stream Team's volunteer-run Native Plant Nursery. "The volunteers were quite pleased with the progress that has been made at the site," says Stream Team Coordinator Lorna Baldwin. "Passers-by who stopped to thank the volunteers for their efforts were encouraged to come back and check out the native plants in the spring." Stream Team also provided an educational program in which the historical uses and current ecological status of the river were discussed. Both OSPIRG and Stream Team have educational missions. Stream Team provides the opportunity for people to do hands-on environmental work, restoring and caring for the city's waterways and natural areas. For more information about this and other projects and trainings this spring, call Lorna Baldwin in Parks and Open Space at 682-4850. Parks Staff Tackles I_arqe Tree In Amazon Creek When a large shore pine toppled into Amazon Creek at 17th Avenue and Oak Street, the Natural Resources Maintenance crew had to act fast to prevent the tree's top half from entirely clogging the flow of water through the canal, which provides stormwater conveyance through the city. According to the crew's supervisor, John Clark, by the time the problem was assessed, the tree, which fell upstream of a bridge, was already wedged under the bridge and had amassed a considerable amount of debris. "It was like a big plug in the channel," says Clark. "The tree had jammed the bridge so completely, you couldn't see under the bridge to the other side." Because the tree was located over the concrete wall of the creek and under a bridge, a crew member was harnessed to the railing of the bridge and lowered over the side in order to gain access to the tree. Limbs were cut from the tree and removed by a hydraulic excavator mounted to a truck. Eventually, the trunk was exposed and also hauled out of the channel, and normal flow was restored to the creek. One of the important functions of the Natural Resources Maintenance Crew is to remove hazards, debris, trash, and EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 March 17, 2004 invasive vegetation from the city's natural resource and open space areas and ensure that conveyance in waterways is unobstructed. For more information about this project and other work of the crew, contact John Clark in Parks and Open Space at 682-4826. City Sin.qers: Harmonizinq Across Departments Come enjoy the City Singers at the downtown library on First Friday, February 6, at 6:30 p.m. The choir, started in 1999 by Diversity Committee member Maureen Robeson for a City-wide Diversity event, is composed entirely of City of Eugene employees volunteering to make music and community. In keeping with the spirit of diversity, musical selections range widely and entertainingly across continents and centuries. City Singers provides a rare opportunity for staff in all areas and at all levels to step out of work roles and create something truly wonderful and fulfilling. Nearly every department is represented. All City employees are invited to join (rehearsals require an unpaid lunch hour once or twice a week for a couple of months before each performance). While some of the City Singers belong to other singing groups, many last performed during their high school days -- and some have never before performed outside their own cars or showers. Hard to believe, when you hear how great they sound! For more information, contact Maureen Robeson, LRCS Administration, at 682-6065. Library Receives Hiqh Marks in Community Survey The community's investment in a new library appears to be paying off: eight out of ten respondents (81%) to the City of Eugene Community Survey released today feel that the City does an above-average job of providing library services, a 27% increase from 2001. The survey, conducted annually for more than a decade, polls Eugene residents about community priorities and City government and services. Perceptions of the City's recreation programs for children 12-17 also show marked improvement, with 38% of respondents identifying those programs as above average, a 41% increase from 2001. Other areas showing significant increases in above-average ratings: encouraging the use of the bus system (72%, up 22%), Cuthbert Amphitheater (52%, up 27%), and providing leadership for the city (33%, up 27%). On the other hand, ongoing concern in the surrounding community about animal control ~ssues is reflected in a 22% decline since 2001 in the percentage of respondents who feel the City does an above-average job of providing animal control services. The two areas with the highest percentage of respondents who believe the City is doing a below-average job, planning and managing growth and managing tax dollars, are topics about which community sentiment is particularly unstable or divided. For example, 30% of respondents feel that Eugene does a below-average job of planning and managing growth. However, several survey questions related to population and economic development display a lack of unanimity and consistency from the community on its priorities. The percentage of respondents who feel that population growth in Eugene is "too fast" decreased 43% over the past four years after rising sharply from 1995 to 1998. Economic growth strategies also meet with varying support. While the majority believes that Eugene should take an active role in helping businesses, the level of support varies significantly depending on what form that assistance takes. Support for the idea that the City should help outside companies come to Eugene is 25% lower than support for helping local businesses create jobs. Support for providing tax incentives to businesses is 38% lower than providing problem-solving assistance. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 March 17, 2004 The City's management of tax dollars is another issue with a high rate (29%) of below-average marks but with mixed messages from the community about priorities. When asked how the City should deal with revenue shortfalls in the future, 32% favor a new tax other than property tax, 12% suggest more cuts, 9% suggest increased property taxes, 30% say they do not like any of the alternatives and want something else, and 16% say they don't know. The telephone survey, conducted in November 2003 by locally-owned independent research firm Advanced Marketing Research, Inc., asked a randomly-selected sample of 401 Eugene residents to share their perceptions of the community and City programs. Survey results are tracked over time to measure significant shifts in those perceptions and to help inform the development of policy and programs. The report will be posted to the City's website (http://www.ci.eugene.or. us) and copies will be available in the Eugene Public Library for public review. For more information, contact Service Improvement Manager Terrie Monroe at 682- 5412 or terrie.e.monroe@ci.eugene.or, us 02/09 M 5:30pm All Council Dinner Work Session McNutt Room 02/09 M 7:30pm All Council Meeting Council Chamber 02/10 T 12:15pm BT LRAPA Board Meeting LRAPA Mtg. Rm., Springfield ** 02/10 T 5:30pm All Joint Mtg. w/Lane Co., Springfield EPL - Bascom/Tykeson Room 02/11 W Noon All Council Lunch Work Session McNutt Room 02/11 W 1:30 ~m SM, DK,GP IGR Committee HRRS Conference Room 02/12 Th 5:30~m BB, JS Police Commission McNutt Room 02/17 T 6:00 ~m DK Human Rights Commission McNutt Room 02/18 W 5:30 ~m Council Budget Committee EPL - Bascom/Tykeson Room 02/20 F 9am-4 ~m All Council Planning & Goals Setting Mtg. Hilton Hotel & Conf. Center ** 02/21 S Noon-4 ~m All Council Planning & Goals Setting Mtg. Hilton Hotel & Conf. Center 02/23 M 5:30 ~m All Council Dinner Work Session McNutt Room 02/23 M 7:30 ~m All Council Meeting Council Chamber 02/25 W Noon All Council Lunch Work Session McNutt Room March ....................................................................................................................................................... 03/04 - 3/08 BT, NN National League of Cities Washington, DC ** 03~08 M Noon G Pap(~ Housing Policy Board County Comm. Conf. Rm. ** 03/08 M 5:30pm All Council Dinner Work Session McNutt Room 03/08 M 7:30pm All Council Meeting Council Chamber 03/10 W Noon All Council Lunch Work Session McNutt Room 03/11 Th 5:30pm BB, JS Police Commission McNutt Room 03/16 T 6:00pm DK Human Rights Commission McNutt Room Council Break: March 11 -April 6 EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 4 March 17, 2004 ** Denotes changes or additions to calendar Torrey: February 29 - March 4 Pape: February 29 - March 6 Meisner: February 28 - March 4 Nathanson: March 4 - 7 Taylor: March 5 - 8 (will be arriving late to 5:30 work session) EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 5 March 17, 2004