HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/13/10 - City Council Newsletter
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER
May 13, 2010
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
HUCKLEBERRY PATROL VOLUNTEERS TACKLE MIDTOWN GRAFFITI
EUGENE AIRPORT RECOGNIZED FOR SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS
OSU VOLUNTEERS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN EUGENE
LIBRARY OFFERS KIDS’ BOOKS IN SPANISH AT CENTRO LATINOAMERICANO AND LOCAL SCHOOLS
ELECTED OFFICIALS INVITED TO BASEBALL GAME AT PK PARK
HEALTHY STEPS TO AGING WALK
SHELDON COMMUNITY CENTER AND POOL HOSTS SPECIAL FUN NIGHT
PARKS AND OPEN SPACE DIVISION STUDIES INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES FOR WETLAND RESTORATION
AROUND THE CITY
Huckleberry Patrol Volunteers Tackle Midtown Graffiti
Friday, May 7, marked the first shift of the season for the Huckleberry Patrol. Huckleberry Patrol volunteers are a part of
the Eugene Police Department’s (EPD) Volunteers in Policing Program, which partners citizens and police in support of
EPD’s crime prevention and community policing efforts.
This eight-member, volunteer team, tackles graffiti in the midtown area of Eugene
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(11 to 15, and Charnelton to Ferry). The volunteers travel by bicycle, working in
two-person teams to locate, document, and remove graffiti. They wear blue vests that
clearly identify them as volunteers. Photos of graffiti tags are downloaded to a server
folder and catalogued. The volunteers also keep an activity log and submit an e-mail
briefing after each shift that is shared with all team members.
May 7, team founder, George Jeffcott (foreground in photo), and his shift partner,
Larry McHenry, responded to graffiti abatement requests from the Assistance League
of Eugene’s Gently Used Thrift Shop and the Florence Apartments, but they also
located and removed graffiti at the First Christian Church, the Black Forest Tavern
and Anastasia’s Antiques. Throughout the shift, people walking by stopped to thank
the volunteers for their efforts.
Businesses that sign up to receive Huckleberry Patrol services have the option of
providing matching paint. When team members discover graffiti on businesses that
have not signed up for the service, they approach the manager to offer their service
and provide the necessary paperwork that will allow the volunteers to remove any
graffiti they find on the business in the future. The team has relied on the generosity
of local business for donations of graffiti abatement supplies, including paint, brushes, coveralls and a bicycle cart.
For more information, contact Volunteers in Policing Program Manager Carrie Chouinard at 541-682-5355 or
carrie.f.chouinard@ci.eugene.or.us, or visit www.eugene-or.gov/policevolunteers.
Eugene Airport Recognized for Sustainability Efforts
®
The Eugene Airport air cargo building was awarded LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. It is the first
LEED-certified building constructed by the City of Eugene, and is currently home to Horizon Air Cargo, Lawrence Air
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May 13, 2010
Service and several air cargo shipping companies.
The $3.1 million air cargo building was part of a $6.2 million project that included the aircraft ramp area and other
infrastructure needed on the south end of the airfield. Construction of the 11,000-square-foot building was completed in
June 2008. Funding came from a ConnectOregon grant, a Federal Aviation Administration grant, and Eugene Airport
funds.
Green features of the building include:
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More than 90 percent of construction waste re-used or recycled
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New building materials had more than 25 percent recycled content
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Wood used in construction 100 percent certified by the Forest
®
Stewardship Council as sustainably harvested
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A 17 percent reduction in total building energy use through
increased building insulation
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High reflectivity roofing
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More efficient HVAC systems
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A 35 percent increase in water efficiency through low-flow fixtures
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Improved indoor air quality through low emitting materials, such as
sealants, paints, adhesives, and carpets
The LEED certification process was achieved through a combined effort between the Eugene Airport, M & H
Architecture, Inc. and Essex Construction. In 2009, about 1.4 million pounds of air cargo was flown out of Eugene.
For more information, contact Cathryn Stephens at 541-682-5430 or cathryn.e.stephens@ci.eugene.or.us.
OSU Volunteers to Make a Difference in Eugene
Eugene residents may be pleasantly surprised to see several dozen
people wearing orange and black T-shirts tidying up a section of bike
path in Eugene. Volunteers from the OSU Alumni Association will meet
Saturday, May 22, at 9 a.m. near the Campbell Senior Center at 2nd
Avenue and Mill Street. The group will work for three hours weeding,
spreading gravel and generally tidying up along the bike path between
there and the DeFazio Bike Bridge. The City of Eugene will provide
gloves, tools and direction. Participants will receive coffee and pastries,
a modest lunch and a free, donated T-shirt bearing a special
commemorative logo.
The volunteer co-coordinator of the Eugene portion of the 2010 OSU
Day of Community Service is Brian Westerberg, a 2008 Oregon State
graduate (BS in business management) who lives in Eugene and is an
agent for American Family Insurance. “I’m happy for the opportunity to show not only that we have school spirit but also
that we’re productive members of our community,” said Westerberg, who noted that there are 5,000 Beavers living in
Lane County, many of them looking for convenient public service projects.
The staff co-coordinator for the Eugene event is Kevin Miller, a Eugene resident who worked for many years as an editor
and reporter at the Register-Guard, before joining the OSU Alumni Association as editor of the Oregon Stater alumni
magazine. "As an Oregon Stater who has lived in Eugene for almost 30 years, I told my colleagues at the OSU Alumni
Association that I was sure Beavers in the Duck-ish end of the Willamette Valley would respond if we expanded our
annual day of service to Eugene," said Miller.
Miller noted that Lorna Baldwin, Eugene’s Volunteers in Parks coordinator, made it especially easy to plan and schedule
the work party. All are welcome to participate. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged and can be done at
www.osualum.com/volunteer_day.
For more information about the event, contact Volunteer Program Supervisor Jackie Hallett at 541-682-4844.
Library Offers Kids’ Books in Spanish at Centro LatinoAmericano and Local Schools
The Eugene Public Library is collaborating with four community partners to make children’s books in Spanish more easily
available to local Latino families and teachers with bilingual students. Children’s books in Spanish have been placed at
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May 13, 2010
Centro LatinoAmericano and at the family resource centers of César E. Chavez, River Road/El Camino del Río, and
Malabon elementary schools.
Research shows that when parents read to their children, the children develop
better reading skills, which in turn leads to better academic performance
throughout their lives. “We want to make it as easy as possible for parents
and teachers to find and use these books,” explains Eugene Public Library
Youth Services Manager Greg Rodriguez. “With the help of our community
partners, we’ll be able to make these crucial educational resources available
to people where they are, at places they’re already visiting.”
The family resource centers at Eugene School District 4J’s César E. Chavez
and River Road/El Camino del Río schools will use the books onsite as well as
lend them to parents and teachers. Centro LatinoAmericano and the Family
Resource Center at Bethel School District’s Malabon Elementary will use the
books as part of regular story times and playgroups for young children. During
this one-year pilot project, the Eugene Public Library will rotate the selection
of books among the four community locations. At any time, each school center will have 100 books and Centro
LatinoAmericano will have 50 books.
Rodriguez adds, “We hope this project will also serve as a bridge to visiting the library, where kids and families can find a
much larger collection of books and many more opportunities for learning and fun.” For more information, contact the
Eugene Public Library at 541-682-8316.
Elected Officials Invited to Baseball Game at PK Park
The Mayor and City Councilors are invited to be part of Public Safety Day this coming Saturday, May 15, at the
University of Oregon’s PK Park as the Ducks take on East Tennessee State in the second game of a three-game series.
Game time is 5 p.m. Public Safety Day is the university’s way of honoring and saying thank-you to the many emergency
response personnel who serve in our community. Fire & EMS and Police Department personnel will be acknowledged
before and during the game, and a number of public safety vehicles will be on display. The expectation is that a good
time will be had by all. For more information, please contact Deputy Chief of Special Operations Joe Zaludek, of the Fire
& EMS Department, at 541-682-7103.
Healthy Steps to Aging Walk
The City of Eugene Adult Services program invites adults age 50
and older to get a step ahead on a healthy lifestyle and celebrate
Older Americans Month in May. The Healthy Steps to Aging
Walk is a noncompetitive event promoting the benefits of
walking. It usually draws dozens of participants who can choose
between a one- or three-mile route.
This year’s event will be held on Saturday, May 15, 9 a.m. –
noon, starting at Campbell Community Center, 155 High Street
The event is free. Finishers receive a certificate and are entered
in a raffle for great prizes.
For more information or to register, call Mel Mann at 541-682-5318.
Sheldon Community Center and Pool Hosts Special Fun Night
The City of Eugene Youth and Family Services is offering a special Family Fun Night on Friday, May 14, to benefit the
Relay for Life Team, “Crayon Chaos.” The free event will be held at Sheldon Community Center and Pool, 2445
Willakenzie Road, and kicks off at 5:15 p.m. with “The Family Mile Challenge.”
From 6 - 9 p.m., there will be carnival games (10 cents per ticket), free hot dogs, chips and lemonade, music by Tim
Patrick and DJ Victor, swimming at Sheldon Pool, and cartoon shorts with Phinneas and Ferb next door on the big
screen. Kids can also take a free swimming lesson and parents can register kids for one of Recreation’s 103 summer
camps. Popcorn and ice cream will be available for 50 cents each.
This event is being held in addition to monthly Family Fun Nights held at Sheldon, Petersen Barn and Amazon
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Community centers which usually draw more than 100 people each. For more information about this event, call Kim
McManus at 541-682-5312.
Parks and Open Space Division Studies Innovative Techniques for Wetland Restoration
The Public Works Parks and Open Space Division, Lane Council of Governments (LCOG), and the Institute for Applied
Ecology have been awarded a $151,000 wetland program development grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) to study methods for restoration and management of wetland prairie ecosystems. The project will span
three years and will test the use of innovative techniques for maintaining diverse, native plant communities.
The project started May 6 and 7, when 100 sheep grazed 10
of the 50 experimental plots at the City’s Coyote Prairie site
to help reduce the amount of existing vegetation and open
up bare spots in the soil.
While sheep are a familiar sight in the Willamette Valley,
targeted grazing has only recently begun to be used as an
alternative to gas-powered mowing for ecosystem
management. In spring, the sheep like to eat succulent
young grasses and broad-leaved plants, reducing the amount
of space taken up by these plants.
The newly opened space will be seeded this fall with native
forbs to increase the diversity of native plant community.
Although grazing is used in other places across the country
to achieve restoration goals, this study will be one of the first
opportunities to evaluate this new restoration tool in the
Willamette Valley. Grazing will be compared with three other techniques (mowing, haying, and ecological burning) as
part of this research.
For more information, contact Natural Areas Restoration Supervisor Trevor Taylor at 541-682-4888.
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