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Home My WebLink About07/16/09 - City Council Newsletter EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER July 16, 2009 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 CELEBRATE SUMMER READING AT TEDDY BEAR PICNIC MUNICIPAL COURT OFFERS AMNESTY ON COLLECTION ACCOUNTS FEDERAL GRANT ALLOWS RECREATION TO ADD AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMMING CITY ALIVE WITH SOUND OF MUSIC TEMPORARY COFFERDAM ALLOWS IMPROVEMENTS AT WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT AROUND THE CITY Celebrate Summer Reading at Teddy Bear Picnic Eugene Public Library invites families with young children to the annual – and adorable -- Teddy Bear Picnic on Saturday, July 25, 11:00 – noon. Held in the park at Amazon Community Center, this free event features music and fun with the McCornack’s Garden Variety Band. Bring snacks or a picnic lunch – plus teddy bears and other stuffed friends. For more information about free Summer Reading events for kids, visit the Library’s calendar at www.eugene-or.gov/library or call the Eugene Public Library at 682-8316. Municipal Court Offers Amnesty on Collection Accounts Individuals seen at the Eugene Municipal Court have been directly affected by the poor economy and continue to have difficulty meeting their financial obligations to the court. Many of the defendants fail to pay their fines and are referred to the court’s collection agency, Professional Credit Services (PCS), for further collection efforts. Often accounts sent to PCS include cases in which a defendant’s driver license has been suspended because of unpaid traffic citations. In light of the current economic environment, Judge Wayne Allen and Municipal Court staff have determined that an “amnesty” program, allowing defendants to apply for partial relief of debt, will be beneficial for the community and the court. In many cases, a defendant who pays his debt to the court will be able to re-acquire his driver license. It will also allow individuals to clean up their credit without the task being quite so overwhelming. Having a valid driver license and achieving a better financial credit-standing will assist in finding employment and becoming financially stable. Eugene Municipal Court has negotiated a program with PCS in which Eugene offers a 25% reduction on the current principal amount owing at the collection agency and PCS waives all interest due on an account. The discount will apply to all accounts that have been or will be referred to the collection agency during the term of the program. Applicable accounts include unpaid fines for misdemeanors, violations, traffic citations and parking tickets. One condition of the program is that the all Municipal Court accounts must be paid-in-full since no payment plans will be offered. PCS will be responsible for managing the program, collection of the debt and remittance to the City. Based on amnesty programs offered by other public entities, Municipal Court is expecting significant interest. The amnesty program is scheduled to be released to the public on July 20, 2009. The program will run until EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1 July 16, 2009 October 31, 2009. For questions, concerns or comments, please contact Court Administrator (AIC) Jeff Perry at 682-5019. Federal Grant Allows Recreation to Add Afterschool Programming The U.S. Department of Education has awarded the Library, Recreation and Cultural Services Deptartment and School District 4J a $1.2 million Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) grant. The Recreation Division will receive $430,000 over the life of the three-year grant to expand current afterschool enrichment programs to more students at more schools. The grant will also offset approximately $50,000 in annual General Fund support for Recreation’s afterschool programs. Currently, Recreation offers the afterschool program, Rec Zone, at seven Eugene 4J and Bethel School District middle schools. The PEP grant will pay for additional personnel and equipment that will enable Recreation to add or expand fitness and outdoor and swimming activities at seven elementary schools, six middle schools, and one high school in the 4J District. The activities provided by Recreation under this grant will benefit students in many ways. The fitness program will encourage youth to be more active and live a healthier lifestyle. The outdoor activities, patterned after the division’s Project Full Moon Rising, will help youth reconnect with nature, which research has shown provides a fertile mix of sensory enrichment that is needed for healthful development. Swimming activities will help youth become competent swimmers, decreasing the risk of drowning, nationally the second highest cause of death for youth. For more information, contact Sandy Shaffer at 682-6348. City Alive with Sound of Music Summer in the City events, such as the Tango Dance on July 8 (pictured) have been drawing audiences downtown, as intended. The City added free downtown performances to the usual lineup of free summer concerts and movies in the parks, and other entertainment, to make Eugene’s downtown a safe, welcoming and entertaining environment for all. Many of the downtown performances are presented in collaboration with Saturday Market and Downtown Eugene, Inc. July events at the Broadway Plaza include the following: ? KIDZ Rock – Downtown! (Eugene’s rising musical talent), July 15, 7:30 p.m. ? The Essentials (soul funk, R & B), July 22, 6:30 p.m. ? Satin Love Orchestra (70s inspired disco/funk) July 30, 6:30 p.m. Downtown entertainment continues every Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. at Farmer’s Market and at every Saturday Market beginning at 10:00 th a.m., both at 8 and Oak Streets. There is more downtown entertainment every Saturday when Family Music is presented at 10:15 a.m. at the Downtown Public Library, and the Emerald th Chamber Players perform at 2:00 p.m. at the Atrium at 10 and Olive streets. For more information, contact Laura Niles at 682-2697, or for a complete list of free, Summer in the City events, click Hult Center Calendar. Temporary Cofferdam Allows Improvements at Wastewater Treatment Plant As part of the capital improvement program underway at the Eugene/Springfield Regional Wastewater Pollution Control Facility, a temporary cofferdam is being built in the Willamette River about a quarter-mile upstream from the Beltline Bridge. Construction of the cofferdam started Monday, July 13. The dam will extend into the river about 75 feet and surround a work area of approximately 4,500 square feet. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 July 16, 2009 This will allow Wildish Construction, working under contract to the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission, to build a new, 96-inch outfall pipe from the treatment plant to the west side of the river. This pipe will discharge peak flows of treated wastewater from the treatment plant. The dam will be constructed using bulk bags, each filled with 3,000 pounds of washed round river rock, stacked pyramid style. The river side of the structure will be lined with plastic, held in place by sandbags, to help seal off water. Once the dam is in place, the work area will be dewatered using four 30-horsepower pumps. In accordance with permits required by state and federal agencies, a fisheries biologist will be present during dewatering to safely capture all protected marine species and release them downstream. Construction of the cofferdam should take about a week, and it will be in use for approximately six weeks. In another major modification at the treatment plant, a change is being made to the deign of large mixing units that will save 220,065 kilowatt hours of electricity per year under expected operating conditions, a reduction valued at $12,104 at today’s power rates. During the initial review of improvement modifications to comply with new regulations and meet projected service demands for Large sacks of rock are carefully loweredinto the river. the next 20 years, engineers identified an opportunity to change the mixers to energy-efficient variable-speed units from the traditionally used fixed-speed design. The mixers are large-bladed propeller devices that mix primary effluent so it can be aerated in a process that reduces the organic load and the ammonia concentrations. The variable-speed feature allows for slower start-ups and better control of mixer speeds to reduce the power consumption. In addition to the long-term savings, an incentive check of $33,010 was received from EWEB for the project after the mixers were installed and their efficient operation was proven and documented. This energy-saving measure will return its investment to the wastewater rate payers in less than 2.5 years. Mixer unit exposed in drained aeration chamber. For more information about improvements at the treatment plant, contact Wastewater Division Director Peter Ruffier at 682-8606. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 July 16, 2009