HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Newsletter - 03/02/06
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER
March 2, 2006
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
REFUNDING BONDS SOLD
WORK BEGINS ON PHASE 1 OF COURTHOUSE DISTRICT TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS
PARK BLOCK IMPROVEMENTS UNDERWAY
THE QUANTUM DOCTOR—A FREE TALK BY AMIT GOSWAMI
MAYOR OPENS “THE ARCHAEOLOGY CHANNEL INTERNATIONAL FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL”
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HORA DE DIVERSIN MEANS “FUN TIME” AT THE LIBRARY
AROUND THE CITY
Refunding Bonds Sold
The City of Eugene successfully sold $25 million of refunding bonds on February 16 for the purpose of
achieving interest rate savings. The bonds refunded the callable portion of the 1996 General Obligation
Public Safety Bonds and the 1999 General Obligation Parks and Open Spaces Bonds.
As a result of the refunding, the City will save more than $1.8 million of interest costs between now and
the final bond maturity in 2019. The annual savings each year through FY2016 (the original maturity of
the 1996 bonds) is about $155,000, with the savings in the last three years about $50,000 each year.
These savings will reduce the amount that the City needs to levy in property taxes, thereby saving
taxpayers money each year starting with the FY07 property tax bill.
The City had planned to sell these refunding bonds by competitive bids on the Internet, but because of
uncertainties in the bond market the week prior to the refunding sale, the City decided to negotiate the
transaction instead. Banc of America Securities LLC was chosen to purchase the bonds through an
accelerated request for proposals process.
Moody's Investors Service reviewed the City's credit rating in connection with this sale and confirmed the
City's "Aa2" rating. Because the bonds carried insurance from Ambac Assurance Corporation, however,
the bonds will carry a triple-A rating. For more information about the refunding bonds, contact Sue
Cutsogeorge, financial analysis manager, at 682-5589.
Work Begins on Phase 1 of Courthouse District Transportation Improvements
Work has started in the Courthouse District
road right-of-way. In preparation for the
transportation improvements scheduled to
begin in April, Eugene Water and Electric
Board (EWEB) is converting aerial
telecommunication lines to underground
conduits and vaults on Ferry Street between
th
Broadway and 8 Avenue. The conversion,
which is funded by the City of Eugene
telecommunications funds, removes electrical
power poles currently in the sidewalk areas that
have QWEST and EWEB electrical lines
attached to them.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1
March 3, 2006
In addition to the telecommunication undergrounding, EWEB is taking the opportunity to do some facility
upgrades. A new 8-inch-diameter waterline, EWEB electrical service conduits, QWEST
telecommunication conduits and future service conduits for Comcast are being installed. These facilities
are being installed in a joint trench, which results in a cost savings for all parties.
This aerial-to-underground conversion project is in addition to a previous conversion project paid jointly
by the City of Eugene and the federal General Services Administration (GSA), which is overseeing the
construction of the Wayne Morse Federal Courthouse. The previous project removed electrical poles
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along Mill Street from 6 to 8 avenues and along 8 Avenue from Mill to Ferry streets.
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Eugene Sand and Gravel is the general contractor for the road work, which includes improving 8
th
Avenue between Ferry and Mill streets, extending 6 Avenue from Mill Street to the east approximately
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500 feet, and extend into Ferry Street from 8 Avenue north to intersect with the easterly end of the 6
th
Avenue extension, improving Ferry Street south of 8 Avenue, and installing amenities such as wider
sidewalks, reconstructed driveways, decorative streetlights, landscaping, stormwater swales and on-
street parking. The Phase 1 work is scheduled to be substantially completed by September. For more
information, contact Project Manager Joe Ramirez at 682-5228.
Park Block Improvements Underway
Construction of a number of improvements
in the southeast Park Block started
February 23. This project will support
increased use of the Park Blocks and
enhance safety, while reinforcing the Park
Blocks’ original mid-century Modernist
design. The current phase of Park Blocks
improvements will provide safety,
circulation, and utility improvements that
will better support the Saturday Market and
weekday use of the southeast Park Block,
as well as an improved tent structure for
the stage area. Specific changes include
relocation of the wheelchair ramp to
improve access to the stage area during
periods of heavy use, relocation of a bench
at the east end of the stage area to a new
niche built into the rock walls, and removal
of the vertical culverts beside the shelter
that create a trip hazard. Opening up the east end of the stage platform and the area between the east
stairs and sidewalk will achieve better connections between the stage and market areas, and potentially
provide more market vending space. Water service will be extended to furnish potable water for the first
time to the area in the northwest quadrant of the southeast Park Block used by Saturday Market food
vendors. Finally, about 3,000 square feet of failing concrete paving will be replaced. The four small
trees removed during this project are being replaced with incense cedars and a big leaf maple, which are
native to Oregon. Design services are provided by Pivot Architecture (formerly WBGS Architecture and
Planning), with site work by Wildish Construction. The construction project will be substantially complete
by April 1, in time for the first Saturday Market of 2006.
The current construction project is the most visible element of the 2006 Park Blocks project. Initially
funded at $325,000, the project includes completion of a master plan for the combined Park Blocks. As
one of the earliest examples of mid-century Modernist design for a public plaza in Oregon, a master plan
is needed to ensure that future enhancements to the Park Blocks will integrate improvements consistent
with the character of the original design. As the construction project is expected to come in about
$60,000 below initial budget estimates, some resources will be available to partially fund the next set of
projects identified in the master plan. For additional information, please contact Glen Svendsen at 682-
5008 or by email at glen.l.svendsen@ci.eugene.or.us.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2
March 3, 2006
The Quantum Doctor—A Free Talk by Amit Goswami
When is yoga more appropriate than allopathy? How does acupuncture relieve pain? Is spontaneous
healing possible? Is healing a spiritual journey?
Professor and author Amit Goswami answers these questions and more in a talk titled "The Quantum
Doctor" at the Downtown Eugene Public Library, March 4, 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. According to Goswami, the
quantum doctor integrates conventional and alternative medicine, and is concerned with healing not only
the physical body, but also the “subtle energy body” and the mind.
A professor emeritus in the physics department of the University of Oregon who was recently featured in
the film What the Bleep Do We Know!?, Goswami is a pioneer of a new paradigm: science within
consciousness. His most recent book is The Quantum Doctor. Goswami is well-known as the author of
the textbook Quantum Mechanics, as well as popular titles including The Self-Aware Universe, Physics of
the Soul, Quantum Creativity, and The Physicists’ View of Nature, which traces the decline and
rediscovery of the concept of God within science. This event is sponsored by the Eugene Public Library,
Friends of the Library, and the Library Foundation. For more information, contact the Eugene Public
Library at 682-5450.
Mayor Opens “The Archaeology ChannelInternational Film and Video Festival”
The world's best films and videos on archaeology and indigenous peoples, The Archaeology Channel
International Film and Video Festival, will be showcased on March 7-11 at the McDonald Theatre. To
demonstrate the quality of the films at this worldwide competition, a 22-minute video preview will be
shown. The video is now featured on The Archaeology Channel (http://www.archaeologychannel.org),
and is available in the Eugene-Springfield area on Community TV Channel 29 (see the schedule below).
Mayor Kitty Piercy will open the Festival at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 7. Tickets will be available at the
door for $7 a night Tuesday – Friday, and $11 for all day Saturday; a ticket package for the entire festival
is $30. Kids 12 and under will be admitted free of charge. Festival awards will be announced at DIVA
(110 W. Broadway, Eugene) at a special reception on Saturday evening, March 11; at 5:30 p.m. Tickets
for that event are $5 at the door.
Schedule of video preview showings on the Archaeology Channel:
Saturday February 25 10:00 p.m.
Sunday February 26 2:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m.
Monday February 272:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m., 10:30 p.m.
Wednesday March 110:30 a.m. 6:00 p.m.
,
Thursday March 22:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m.3:00 p.m.
Saturday March 49:30 p.m.
Sun day March 59:30 a.m.
Monday March 63:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m.
Tuesday March 72:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday March 86:00 p.m.
Thursday March 9 4:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m., 4:00 p.m.
Saturday March 11 6:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m.
Sun day March 12 6:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m.
For more information, contact LRCS Executive Assistant Maureen Robeson at 682-6065.
Hora de Diversión Means "Fun Time" at the Library
Bring the whole family to the Downtown Eugene Public Library for an
evening of fun en español and English!
The second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.,
elementary-age kids can enjoy bilingual activities at Hora de Diversión. On
March 14, guest presenter Hugo Nava Sánchez is back by popular demand.
A traditional musician originally from Tlaxcala, Mexico, he’ll show how
flutes work, and teach kids to make and play clay flutes to take home. On
March 28, discover La Fiesta de la Tirana with Ximena Torres and Andres
Montenegro of Chile. Kids will create masks and learn to dance El Trote
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3
March 3, 2006
Tarapaqueño, like the thousands of visitors who transform the small town of Tirana into a huge festival
each summer.
At the same time as Hora de Diversión, adults and teens gather for Intercambio: small, casual
"conversation circles" in which English is spoken for one half hour and Spanish is spoken for the next.
Intercambio is a great opportunity to practice either language and to meet new friends. For more
information, contact the Eugene Public Library, 682-5450.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 4
March 3, 2006