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Home My WebLink AboutCC Newsletter - 03/16/06 EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER March 16, 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 SPRING BREAK FUN AND INFO AT LIBRARY EUGENE HOSTS FIRST STATEWIDE BICYCLING SUMMIT ON APRIL 1 EUGENE SCHOOLS ATTEND OREGON GREEN SCHOOL SUMMIT CREST DRIVE STREET DESIGN PROCESS UNDERWAY WILLAKENZIE PARK NEIGHBORS INVITED TO HELP PLAN NEIGHBORHOOD PARK “EUGENE OUTDOORS” ARRIVES IN HOMES THIS WEEK AROUND THE CITY Spring Break Fun and Info at Library Snow or no snow, it's nearly Spring Break! Kids and teens find fun, new ideas, and friends at the Eugene Public Library. All kids' events are free but space is limited; pick up tickets starting 30 minutes in advance. The week starts with the Magic Camel Puppet Theater show on Sunday, March 26, 2:00 – 2:45 p.m. at the Downtown Library, for ages pre-school and up. Take a journey through time and the Middle East with marionettes, rod, and shadow puppets in an original story highlighting both the connections between Muslim and Jewish cultures as well as their differences. At Lights, Shadows, Action!, elementary-age kids create their own animal shadow puppets a the following times: Tuesday, March 28, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m., Downtown Library; Thursday, March 30, 3:00 - 4:30 p.m., Bethel Branch; and Friday, March 31, 11:00 - 12:30, Sheldon Branch. Storyteller Robert Rubinstein enchants kids elementary-age and up with Animal Tales from Around the World, Saturday, April 1, 2:00-3:00 p.m., at the Downtown Library. For teens into manga, drop in to meet Michael Ring, owner of Portland’s Bridge City Comics, at Manga Desu-Yo (Japanese for "Manga - YES!"), on Monday, March 27, from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. at the Downtown Library, or 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. at Bethel Branch. Hear about the history and future of manga, comics, and graphic novels, plus anime sub vs. dub. Ask questions and see new, hot-off-the-press works. Internet FYI, a two-day, hands-on-keyboard workshop for teens is scheduled for Wednesday, March 29 and Thursday, March 30 from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m., at the Downtown Eugene Public Library. Do you feel like the only person on earth without e-mail, a blog, or a website? Is everyone at school talking about MySpace and you don't know where your space is? When your parents rant about online stranger danger, can you tell if they’re paranoid or not? Would your friends GOL (giggle out loud) – or even BWL (burst with laughter) – if you asked them to explain it all? Computer teacher/guru Melanie Morrison is here for you! Pre-registration required. For more information about Spring Break programs, call the Eugene Public Library at 682-5450. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1 March 16, 2006 Eugene Hosts First Statewide Bicycling Summit on April 1 Oregon bicyclists know how exhilarating it is to reach the summit. Communities, businesses and individuals interested in turning Oregon into the premier bicycling state have a chance to share that feeling by attending the Oregon Bicycling Summit, on Saturday, April 1, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Eugene Hilton Hotel and Conference Center. The daylong conference and workshop will for the first time bring public, private and nonprofit organizations together to discuss Oregon's progress on building bicycle recreation and tourism opportunities. The public is invited to join the group of bicycling enthusiasts from cycling clubs, tourist groups, bicycle manufacturers, and bike shops who are working to make Oregon the #1 bicycling destination in the USA. During the morning sessions, participants will hear from Jay Graves, President of the National Bike Dealers Association, John Blackwell, Cycle Oregon board member, Todd Davidson, CEO of Travel Oregon, and Tim Wood, Director of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. Over lunch, Mayor Kitty Piercy will welcome the group and U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio will deliver a keynote address. In the afternoon, all meeting attendees will work together to produce ideas for advancing Oregon's bicycle recreation and tourism agenda. Event sponsors include the City of Eugene and the City of Corvallis, the Oregon Tourism Commission (Travel Oregon), Brand Oregon, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, Oregon Department of Transportation and Cycle Oregon, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bicycling enjoyment, safety and education. The event is timed to lead in to the Oregon Governor's Conference on Tourism (April 2-4) also being held at the Eugene Hilton. The summit will be from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., with an exhibit hall open from 9 - 10 a.m. and 3 - 4 p.m. The $25 registration fee includes lunch. Exhibit opportunities are available before and after the summit for $50. For more information, contact Lee Shoemaker, Eugene's bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, at lee.shoemaker@ci.eugene.or.us or 682-5471, or Jerry Norquist, Cycle Oregon, 503-287-0405 ext. 102 (office), 503-880-3012 (cell). To register for the Bicycle Summit or inquire about exhibiting, please RSVP to: ingrid@cycleoregon.com or (503) 287-0342 ext. 103. The registration deadline is Friday, March 24. Eugene Schools Attend Oregon Green School Summit This Friday, March 17, more than 400 representatives from 65 schools across the state will gather for the th 10 annual Oregon Green Schools Summit, to learn, share, and celebrate their waste reduction and resource conservation successes. This year’s event, with the “Greener World” theme, is sponsored in part by the City of Eugene and will be held at Willamette High School. Over a dozen schools in the Eugene area will be attending this year’s summit. Students, teachers, custodians, parent volunteers, school administrators and Green School coordinators will spend the day networking and attending hands-on educational sessions. City of Eugene Recycling Analyst Alex Cuyler will be the keynote speaker at this event. The Oregon Green Schools program was created in 1997 to help Oregon schools implement and maintain successful waste reduction and resource conservation programs. Currently, 12 Eugene schools are certified Oregon Green Schools, with nearly 200 Green Schools statewide. The City of Eugene Solid Waste and Recycling program sees the Oregon Green School program as an effective tool to encourage waste reduction and recycling within the schools. For more information about the summit contact Anne Donahue, solid waste and recycling compost specialist at 682-5542. For more information about the summit visit: http://www.oregongreenschools.org/summits.cfm Crest Drive Street Design Process UnderWay The Crest Drive street design process is underway following the convening of a Crest Drive Community Team (CDCT). The CDCT includes 20 neighborhood representatives selected by a transportation subcommittee of the Crest Drive Neighborhood Association, along with staff from the transportation team EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 March 16, 2006 in the Public Works Engineering Division. On March 9, the CDCT held the first of three scheduled meetings designed to develop group agreements focusing on parameters for decision-making, communications, and meetings for a context-sensitive design (CSD) process for the identified sections of Crest Drive, Storey Boulevard and Friendly Street. The CDCT is working with volunteer facilitators Josh Reckord and Bill Kentta for the first three meetings, and is currently conducting a selection process to hire a facilitator for the full CSD process. For additional information, please contact Senior Transportation Planner Lisa Gardner at 682-5378 or lisa.a.gardner@ci.eugene.or.us Willakenzie Park Neighbors Invited to Help Plan Neighborhood Park On Thursday, March 23, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., Willakenzie Park neighbors are invited to share their ideas for improvements to this 4.9-acre neighborhood park located at the former Willakenzie School site. The property was purchased by the City in 2004 to ensure continued public, recreational use of the former school grounds, which have been enjoyed by the community for many years. Funding is now available from park system development charges to make improvements to the park. No formal plans have been set, and anyone interested in the future of the park is encouraged to get involved. The workshop will be held at the Monroe Middle School library, located at 2800 Bailey Lane in Eugene. Willakenzie Park currently includes basic athletic field improvements, trees, and open space. Neighborhood parks, which serve residents within about half-mile (10-minute) walking distance, generally include the following: a children's play area; accessible pathways; park furniture such as benches, picnic tables and trash receptacles; and open space for recreation and relaxation. They typically do not include the following: restrooms; off-street parking; programmed athletics; skateparks; dog off-leash areas; and other facilities that attract visitors from a distance greater than the park's service area. In this case, since the park’s athletic fields have been used for many years, this use may be continued and incorporated into the park design. For more information or to give input, contact Park Planner Robin Hostick at 682-4915, robin.a.hostick@ci.eugene.or.us, or visit the park’s webpage at www.eugene- or.gov/parkprojects Eugene Outdoors Arrives in Homes This Week Watch for the new issue of Eugene Outdoors, arriving in homes this week. This special centennial edition takes a look at the history of Eugene's park system over the last 100 years, and what the next 100 might bring. Eugene Outdoors is published biannually by the Parks and Open Space Division and is delivered to all homes in the Eugene, River Road, and Santa Clara area. For more information contact Kelly Darnell at 682-4814 or kelly.a.darnell@ci.eugene.or.us. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 March 16, 2006