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Home My WebLink AboutCC Newsletter - 03/11/04EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER March 11, 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-IRKUTSK SISTER CITY COMMITTEE SPONSORS YOUTH ART SHOW CITY STAFF COLLABORATE ON LIBRARY VIDEO THE MOSCOW STATE RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA COMES TO THE HULT PUBLIC WORKS SCHEDULES OPEN HOUSE FOR SEASONAL EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION TREE PLANTING AT PARKER/EASTSIDE ELEMENTARY NEW GARDENS BLOOM AT ALTON BAKER AND SKINNER BUTTE PARKS CITY'S NEW STORMWATER PERMIT COMES WITH STIFFER REQUIREMENTS ELECTIONS 2004 UPDATE Eu.qene-lrkutsk Sister City Committee Sponsors Youth Art Show The Eugene-lrkutsk Sister City Committee is proud to announce the 2nd Annual American-Russian Youth Art Awards Ceremony. The event will take place on Saturday, March 13, 2-4 p.m. at Maude Kerns Art Center, 1910 E. 15th Avenue, Eugene. The show will feature 12 works of art by Russian youth from Irkutsk and 12 works by Eugene youth. The winning entries were the result of a citywide contest this past fall in each community, Eugene and Irkutsk. South Fork Pantry, a student - run catering business at South Eugene High School, will provide Russian desserts. This event is sponsored by Maude Kerns Art Center and the Eugene-lrkutsk Sister City Committee. Admission is free and parking is available. The public is invited and welcomed. For more information about the Eugene-lrkutsk Sister City Committee, contact Galina Groza at 686-0546. City Staff Collaborate on Library Video A brief instructional video with tips on how to use the Self-Check system quickly and easily is now showing at the downtown library's check-out desk. These "best practice" scenarios were determined by the Eugene Public Library's ACS (Automated Circulation System) Team - Margaret Hazel, Jeff Blonde, Alex Dubedat, and Darren Nelson - in partnership with vendor Tech Logic. That information was turned into a step-by-step script by Kelly Carney and Laura Philips, with tech support by Jason Weinstein. The "magic" gloved hands providing the demonstration belong to Library Marketing Coordinator Tylar Merrill, the lovely narrating voice is the Hult Center's Karm Hagedom; and the video was shot and edited by Metro TV's Robert Lewis and Ken Warren. Although released too late to be considered for an Oscar this year, the video offers a good example of teamwork across workgroups and is wowing audiences intent on checking out library materials. For more information, contact Margaret Hazel, Library Technology Manager, at 682-6015. The Moscow State Radio Symphony Orchestra Comes to the Hult EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1 March 17, 2004 Last Sunday evening, March 7, a superb performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #2 and Tchaikovsky's Symphony #4 under the direction of Sergei Kondrashev, a surprisingly young, but dynamic conductor, took place in Silva Hall. Yuri Rozum, the piano soloist, is considered to be one of the foremost and most promising Russian pianists. The audience's enthusiast response to his expressive style and flawless technique produced two exciting encores. This particular performance was publicized in an innovative and effective way. With the help of Events Manager Karm Hagedorn, and a local sound company, 2000 audio CDs were produced. Each CD features 12 minutes of music by the orchestra interspersed with the smooth voice of Ms. Hagedorn telling about the orchestra and this presentation. Hult Marketing Manager Carol Philips reports that the CD mailings upped ticket sales by generating excitement and grabbing community attention. Eugene and its Siberian sister city, Irkutsk, co-sponsored a special reception after the performance. Many interpreters kept good communication flowing during this wonderful celebration of the Russian culture which lasted over two hours. For more information, contact Marketing and Public Relations Manager Carol Philips at 682-8380. Pubfic Works Schedules Open House for Seasonal Employment Information The City of Eugene Public Works Department will hold a seasonal employment information session on Wednesday, March 17, at 5:30 p.m. in Building 2 conference room at Public Works Maintenance, 1820 Roosevelt Boulevard. The open house is an opportunity for potential candidates to learn more about the department and seasonal employment opportunities, meet and network with hiring supervisors, and pick up application packets for these seasonal positions. Applications are also currently available at Human Resource and Risk Services at City Hall, 777 Pearl Street, Room 101. Each summer, Eugene Public Works hires between 35 and 50 seasonal employees to perform services such as parks and grounds maintenance, building and custodial maintenance projects, concrete and asphalt projects, bike path maintenance, street striping, and curb painting. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age, and the pay ranges from $8 to $11 per hour. While the seasonal positions are temporary, they do provide on-the-job experience that can help these individuals be more competitive in future, entry-level, regular employment application processes. For more information about seasonal employment or the upcoming open house, contact Public Works Human Resource Specialist Della Diller at 682-5076. Tree Plantinq at Parker/Eastside Elementary On Sunday, March 7, about 25 parents and neighbors planted 23 native trees at the Parker/Eastside Elementary School playground. The next Monday and Tuesday mornings, students planted an additional 13 trees. Parker/Eastside Elementary School is located at 3875 Kincaid Street. Experts from the Eugene Tree Foundation helped with the tree- planting plan and were at the work party to demonstrate proper planting procedures. Improvements at the ParkedEastside Elementary playground are part of a City of Eugene Neighborhood Matching Grant. The tree planting was the second part of the grant; earlier this year, new playground equipment was installed. The total project is valued at over $13,000. The neighborhood match is primarily general and professional volunteer labor and monetary contributions from the school site councils. The following businesses also contributed to the project: Pacific Rubber & Supply, Sperry Tree Care, and Balance Restoration Nursery. The City's Neighborhood Matching Grant program funded $6,375 of the project costs. For more information, please contact Beth Bridges in the Planning and Development Department at 682-5272 or via e- m ail at beth. b. bridges@cl, eugene, or. us. New Gardens Bloom at Alton Baker and Skinner Butte Parks Parks crews ushered in the gardening season by installing irrigation, PAGE 2 fencing and roads at the three new gardens in Eugene Parks--two new community gardens sites at Alton Baker and Skinner Butte parks and Eugene Stream Team's new native plant nursery, located adjacent to the new Alton Baker community gardens. The irrigation crew came in first and dug trenches and installed irrigation faucets and water lines last fall and winter. In the last month, the turf and grounds crew has installed over 1,600 lineal feet of fence around the perimeter of the gardens and between the native plant nursery and Alton Baker community gardens. The natural resource maintenance crew is now taking advantage of the reprieve from the rain to build access roads to the gardens. Finally, as the major construction work winds down, parks crews can finish the job by performing general site clean-up and creating garden plots. Troy Kreger, community gardens manager, anticipates that an additional 50-60 plots will be ready to rent in May or June at the new community gardens at Skinner Butte and Alton Baker parks. In the meantime, plots at the four other community gardens throughout Eugene will be available for rent beginning next week, and anyone interested in a plot at the new sites can place their name on a waiting list. To register for a garden plot or sign up for the waiting list, visit the Parks and Open Space office at 1820 Roosevelt Boulevard, on Wednesday, March 17, from noon to 7 p.m. or any day thereafter during normal business hours, from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information about the community gardens program, contact Program Manager Troy Kreger at 682-4845. For more information about the construction of the community gardens, contact Turf and Grounds Supervisor Rob Hallett at 682-4935 or Natural Resource Maintenance Supervisor John Clark at 682-4826. City's New Stormwater Permit Comes with Stiffer Requirements On March 2, 2004, the City's National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) stormwater permit was reissued by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The permit authorizes the City to discharge stormwater from the municipal stormwater system, according to certain conditions and limitations determined by the federal Clean Water Act. The City of Eugene was originally issued an NPDES stormwater permit in 1994 and has maintained full compliance with the NPDES stormwater permit since. There are substantial differences between the City of Eugene's original and new stormwater permits, including significant changes related to program focus, monitoring, data analysis, and reporting, as described below: Program focus: The new permit addresses the anticipated establishment of total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for the Willamette River and Amazon Creek and its tributaries. The TMDL is the total amount of a pollutant that can be discharged into the water without causing an in-stream violation of a particular water quality standard. The Willamette River and Amazon Creek and its tributaries are variously listed as "water quality limited" for temperature, dissolved oxygen, bacteria, and toxics. Even though a final TMDL has not yet been established by the DEQ for the Willamette River and Amazon Creek, Eugene must evaluate stormwater's contribution of these pollutants as well as determine whether the City's program is effective in addressing these pollutants. This focus on the TMDL process will require a higher level of monitoring and evaluation. Monitoring: Under the new permit, Eugene is required to monitor the quality and characteristics of discharged stormwater; evaluate pollutant sources; assess the chemical, biological, and physical effects of stormwater runoff on receiving waters; characterize stormwater runoff; evaluate long-term water quality trends; and monitor to document the effectiveness of the stormwater program. While the City already has a monitoring program, it will be necessary to carefully evaluate the existing program and make modifications to the parameters analyzed, frequency of monitoring, and locations of monitoring activities to meet the new permit conditions. Data analysis and reporting: Unlike the previous permit, reporting requirements under the new permit, change significantly from year-to-year. Substantial data monitoring and program documentation are required in each year's report, and the second and fourth year reports require specific elements, such as a comprehensive review of the program, identification of improvements, analysis and assessment associated with a permit renewal submittal, and public involvement processes. These changes will entail significantly greater staff time to collect data, conduct assessments and evaluations, and coordinate the reporting process. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 March 17, 2004 Five other municipalities/agencies in Oregon have also recently been issued new NPDES stormwater permits. Eugene and these other permitees collaborated, under the auspices of the Oregon Association of Clean Water Agencies, during permit renewal discussions with DEQ. Now that the permits have been approved, the City of Eugene intends to continue to collaborate with these other permitees on responding to the conditions of the permit. Monitoring, data analysis, and reporting are the areas that are most amenable to collaborative efforts. For more information about the City's NPDES permit, call Water Resources Manager Therese Walch at 682-6839. Elections 2004 Update Since last week's filing deadline, Michael Carrigan has withdrawn his candidacy for City Council Ward 7. Friday, March 12, at 5 p.m. is the deadline for candidates to file their withdrawal. After that deadline has passed, the City Recorder's Office will prepare the final list of candidates. Please see the City's Elections website at www.ci.eugene.or, us/cityreco/Elections for the most current information. For more information, contact City Recorder Mary Feldman at 682-8353. 03/11 Th 5:30pm BB, JS Police Commission McNutt Room Council Break: March 11 -April 6 03/16 T 12:15pm BT,JS Human Services Commission Bob Straub Conf. Rm. ** (Lane County PSB) 03/16 T 6:00pm DK Human Rights Commission McNutt Room 03/25 Th Noon G Poling CVALCO Board Meeting Lane Events Center, Room 1 APRIL ................................................................................................................................................... 04/07 W 5:30pm All Council Process Session EPL - Bascom Room 04/08 Th 5:30pm BB, JS Police Commission McNutt Room 04/12 M 5:30pm All Council Dinner Work Session McNutt Room 04/12 M 7:30pm All Council Meeting Council Chamber 04/14 W Noon All Council Lunch Work Session McNutt Room 04/20 T 6:00pm DK Human Rights Commission McNutt Room 04/21 W Noon All Council Lunch Work Session McNutt Room 04/26 M 5:30pm Council Budget Committee EPL- Bascom Room ABSENT: Kelly 04/28 W Noon All Council Lunch Work Session McNutt Room ABSENT: Kelly ** Denotes changes or additions to calendar Kelly: April 24 - 28 EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 4 March 17, 2004