HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/23/08 City Council Newsletter (2)
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER
October 23, 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
RECREATION ACTIVITIES PROVIDE FUN OPTIONS FOR OUT-OF-SCHOOL TIMES
A-GATE INFILL PROJECT TO EXPAND SEATING AREA, GIFT SHOP
EUGENE AIRPORT RANKED FIRST PLACE FOR FACILITY MANAGEMENT
PUBLIC WORKS RECEIVES $204,000 GRANT TO HELP RESTORE DELTA PONDS
EPD'S WEBSITE - THE LATEST!
ARTS AND BUSINESS ALLIANCE LAUNCHED
FIRE & EMS DEPARTMENT ISSUES FY08 ANNUAL REPORT
I
CE/SNOW EMERGENCY ROUTES PUBLISHED SUNDAY
TELECOM MANAGER PAM BERRIAN RECEIVES 2008 TELECOMMUNICATIONS AWARD
AROUND THE CITY
Recreation Activities Provide Fun Options for Out-of-School Times
October is Crime Prevention month and studies have shown
that a key to preventing crime by youth is recreation.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, youths are
most likely to commit crimes between 2:00 - 8:00 p.m., with
crime rates peaking at 3:00 p.m. Eugene Recreation offers
many activities that can fill unsupervised after-school hours
while connecting youth to peers, adults and others in the
community, creating positive friendships that may assist them
in later years. Recreation Services offers a wide variety of
classes scheduled during after-school hours, such as
Beginning Hip Hop Dance, guitar lessons, and wheel throwing.
In addition, RecZone after-school care is provided at seven
middle schools and plans for no-school days this fall include
trips to the Oregon Coast Aquarium and Oregon Museum of
Science and Industry, other supervised fun activities, and
recreational swims. Special events include Free Fun Family
Nights, and splash dances for middle school students. Programs especially designed for teens include Youth 2
Make it Happen (Y2MiH), Amazing Talented Heroines Enjoying Nature and Art (ATHENAs); Multicultural Outdoor
High school Opportunities (MoHo), Afro-American Cultural Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO),
CONNECT for queer, trans and allied youth, and Teen Court, which provides experience in decision-making,
communication and law. For more information, contact Kathy Madison at 682-6342.
A-Gate Infill Project to Expand Seating Area, Gift Shop
Construction has started on the A-gate infill project at the Eugene Airport terminal. Once completed in May 2009, it
will create 2,400 square feet of additional public-use concourse level space, along with 2,400 square feet of
unfinished ground level storage space for use by the airport. The 2,400 square feet of concourse space will be
divided, providing 1,200 square feet of much needed additional passenger seating area. The remaining 1,200
square feet will allow Emerald City News and Gifts to move into a larger space. The current A-gate area gift shop
is very small, but the demand for goods has increased under current security restrictions. The project was bid at
$986,545 and is funded from Passenger Facilities Charges (PFC funds) generated from passengers using the
airport. These funds have already been collected and set aside for the project and the Federal Aviation
Administration has issued the appropriate acknowledgement. Eugene Airport airline partners unanimously
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1
October 23, 2008
approved the project. Once built, the A-gate infill project increases the amount of rentable square footage in the
terminal
building. This lowers the rates and charges for each airline serving the Eugene Airport. For more information
contact Eugene Airport Director of Marketing and Public Relations Cathryn Stephens at 682-5430 or email to
cathryn.e.stephens@ci.eugene.or.us.
Eugene Airport Ranked First Place for Facility Management
The Eugene Airport has been awarded the first place Airport Facility Council 2008 Award for Facility Management
Excellence by the International Facility Management Association (IFMA). The award is designed to recognize and
advance excellence in the field of airport facilities. This is the second consecutive year the council’s highest honor
has been presented to Eugene Airport staff in recognition of outstanding achievements in facilities management.
A panel of IFMA Airport Facilities Council judges determined the award winners in five categories based on the
airport’s number of annual passengers. For airports with enplanements of less than one million, the Eugene Airport
was again ranked number one. Award submissions were evaluated using the following five criteria: leadership,
innovation, sustainability, customer service and operational efficiency. IFMA is the world’s largest and most widely
recognized international association for professional facility managers, supporting more than 19,000 members in
60 countries. For more information, contact Director of Facilities and Development Brad Black at 682-5430 or
bradley.g.black@ci.eugene.or.us.
Public Works Receives $204,000 Grant to Help Restore Delta Ponds
The City’s ongoing habitat enhancement project at Delta Ponds was recently awarded a $204,000 grant from the
Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) to continue enhancing the riparian area of the ponds. The
funding will be used to plant and establish native trees, shrubs, sedges, and rushes on 13.5 acres of riparian
habitat and to control invasive species on 40 acres of riparian habitat. A portion of the grant funds will help
vegetate over three acres of gently sloping riparian benches that were constructed this summer with partial funding
from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The OWEB grant also
complements additional riparian planting work being funded by an
$86,000 grant from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Over the
past several years, the City of Eugene has collaborated with local, state,
and federal partners to restore this side-channel habitat of the Willamette
River. The primary goals of this effort are:
1. Re-establish hydrological connections between the mainstem
Willamette River and the Delta Ponds so that the Delta Ponds system
serves as a side-channel to the Willamette River (as it did
historically).
2. Improve in-stream and riparian habitat for a wide variety of species
including Chinook salmon, American beavers, western pond turtles,
river otters, and neo-tropical migratory birds.
3. Provide appropriate levels of interpretation and public access to the
Delta Ponds.
This work has helped make Delta Ponds one of the premier wildlife
viewing areas in Eugene. Bald eagles, osprey, river otters, and a wide
variety of other bird and wildlife species are regularly seen at Delta Ponds.
For more information about the OWEB grant or the Delta Ponds
Restoration Project, please contact Natural Resources Manager Eric Wold at 682-4842 or Principal Landscape
Architect Scott Milovich at 682-6086.
EPD's Website - The Latest!
EPD's website is currently under incremental construction with the goal of making it a primary site for information
on crime prevention, public safety, police activities in the community, and other news. The most recent addition -
called The Latest! - is video content that will cover a range of topics and be refreshed twice monthly or as
needed for breaking or high visibility topics. This is part of a move to position EPD's site as a primary place to
come for EPD news. The first topic is an address by new Interim Chief Pete Kerns. Earlier this month, new graphic
buttons were added to highlight the most popular and frequently accessed web features. To further streamline the
community’s access to police dispatch information, EPD developed and launched a new web-based dispatch log.
The new log, which automatically updates every few minutes to show police calls for service as they are
concluded, provides police dispatch information much more rapidly than the previous web log, which was manually
updated once each weekday. To view the website, go to www.eugene-or.gov/police. For more information, please
contact Melinda Kletzok at 682-5124.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2
October 23, 2008
Arts and Business Alliance Launched
The City of Eugene formally launched the Arts and Business Alliance of Eugene this week. The formation of this
group was one of the top priorities identified in the City-commissioned 2007 Cultural Policy Report, unanimously
supported by the Eugene City Council last year. The alliance will offer the community opportunities to learn how
the
goals of arts and business are congruent and how, with collaboration, Eugene's exceptional artists, arts
organizations and businesses can make a significant impact on the local economy and the city's cultural vitality.
Specifically, the alliance is tasked with:
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Increasing awareness that the goals of each sector are congruent
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Enhancing community-wide awareness of the economic, educational, and business benefits of arts and culture
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Recognizing and stimulating community leadership in arts and culture
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Advocating for arts investment and participation
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Contributing to the economic health and livability of the community
The alliance founding board members are: James Bean, UO Senior Vice President and Provost; Fred Crafts,
Ambassador to the Arts; Alan Evans, Evans, Elder and Brown; Jody Hall, General Manager, Hilton Hotel and
Conference Center; David Hauser, President, Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce; Mindy Linder, Community
Theater Artist and Marketing Professional; Gretchen Pierce, Hult and Associates; Tina Rinaldi, Program Manager,
UO Arts and Administration; Jon Ruiz, City Manager, City of Eugene; Royce Saltzman, Oregon Bach Festival
Director Emeritus; Randall Stender, Merrill Lynch; Kari Westlund, President and CEO, CVALCO; and Rick
Williams, Division Chair, LCC-Art and Applied Design. The alliance will also be responsible for facilitating many of
the initiatives that are proposed in the CPR report to be implemented over the next ten years. For information, call
Laura Niles at 682-2697.
Fire & EMS Department Issues FY08 Annual Report
In fiscal year 2008, Eugene's Fire & EMS Department responded to a record 21,723 calls for service, and
transported 12,192 patients to area medical facilities. There were 2,019 fire calls, including 126 full structure fire
responses. There were no fire-related deaths in Eugene during the fiscal year. These facts are among a wealth of
information, pictures, charts, and maps presented in the department's recently completed FY08 Annual Report.
The report provides accounts of the department's major accomplishments during the year, performance statistics,
awards and promotions, partnerships, and much more. In the interest of sustainability, the report is being made
available electronically. To view the report, click here. For a printed copy of the report, or for more information,
please contact Glen Potter in Fire & EMS at 682-7118
I
ce/Snow Emergency Routes Published Sunday
The Public Works Department will run its annual notification of ice/snow emergency routes in The Register-Guard
on Sunday, October 26. During winter storms – sleet, freezing rain, or icy weather – or when one inch or more of
snow accumulates on streets, the City may ban parking along priority routes. Prohibiting on-street parking and
towing stranded vehicles on priority routes allows emergency vehicles to move safely and assists with snow- and
ice-removal operations. The code-required notice also reminds property owners that they are responsible for
keeping sidewalks free of ice and snow in front of their homes and businesses. For more information on Eugene’s
ice/snow emergency plan, contact Public Works Surface Operations Manager Eric Johnson at 682-4904.
Telecom Manager Pam Berrian Receives 2008 Telecommunications Award
th
At the 13 annual Oregon Connections statewide conference (www.oregonconnections.info), Pam Berrian was
presented with an award as the 2008 Outstanding Telecommunications Advocate. Oregon Connections is planned
and attended by both private and public sector representatives. It presents and celebrates new communications
technology applications employed throughout Oregon and explores strategies for increased deployment, especially
in rural parts of Oregon. The award recognizes Pam for the outreach, benefits and variety of the City of Eugene’s
telecommunications program, first envisioned by the City Council when it adopted Ordinance 20083 in 1997. Pam
is very involved in statewide and regional telecom activities, serving as the Oregon chapter President of the
National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, and is a member of the League of Oregon
Cities’ Cable and Telecom Committee. She was also appointed by the Governor to the Oregon
Telecommunications Coordinating Council, and is a member of the Regional Fiber Consortium, an
intergovernmental, rural-urban body that owns and manages an intra-state fiber asset. Pam has served the City
since 1990 when she was hired as the City Council Coordinator in the City Manager’s Office. In her current
position as Franchise Manager in the Information Services Division, she manages a comprehensive registration,
licensing and taxation program implemented after the adoption of the Federal Telecommunication Act of 1996, the
largest overhaul of the nation’s telecommunications laws since 1934. The technology, regulatory, and legislative
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3
October 23, 2008
environment in this arena is ever-changing and it is an honor for the City’s program staff to be recognized in this
important way. For further information, please contact Information Services Director Randy Kolb at 682-5075.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 4
October 23, 2008