HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/05/10 - City Council Newsletter
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER
August 5, 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
YOUTH RECONNECTING WITH COMMUNITY THROUGH VOLUNTEERISM
EUGENE EARNS KUDOS FOR DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
SLURRY SEALING UNDER WAY ON DOZENS OF RESIDENTIAL STREETS
NEW SIGNAGE COMING TO A PARK NEAR YOU
A SAFER TOWN FOR KIDS
WATERFEST 2010 MAKES WATER ACCESSIBLE TO ALL
INTRODUCTION TO GRANT WRITING AND RESEARCH AT EUGENE PUBLIC LIBRARY
RECOVERY FUNDS AT WORK: BUSINESS LOAN PROGRAM HELPS LOCAL BUSINESS
PARKING PERMIT PROGRAM WORKS TO EASE NEIGHBORHOOD TRAFFIC NEAR UNIVERSITY
AROUND THE CITY
Youth Reconnecting with Community through Volunteerism
Youth from the Looking Glass New Roads program are busy making a visible difference in Eugene’s parks and
natural areas this summer. Ten youth and two staff members are spending their mornings removing English ivy
from trees on Skinner Butte and pruning and
weeding in Monroe, Amazon, and Scobert parks.
Although they are volunteering their time to the
City, the 16- to 21-year-olds are receiving an
hourly wage through the Looking Glass school
fund.
"Two of our primary objectives in this project are to
help youth reconnect to their community and feel
like members, something that many youth we
serve don't always experience, and to gain
employment skills, positive work history, and the
confidence to find permanent work," says New
Roads Program Manager Chris Mirabal.
The Looking Glass New Roads program assists homeless and at-risk youth between the ages of 11 and 21 who
are interested in creating long-term solutions that improve the quality of their lives. Their services include
counseling, education, support groups, case management, and outreach. Looking Glass plans to adopt both
Scobert and Monroe parks, which are within walking distance of their site. For more information, contact
Volunteers in Parks Coordinator Lorna Baldwin at 541-682-4845 or lorna.j.baldwin@ci.eugene.or.us.
Eugene Earns Kudos for Document Management Practices
An industry web site dedicated to document management has recognized the City of Eugene for implementing
innovative technologies for document management. The article cites Eugene’s efforts to eliminate “silos” of
information by streamlining and standardizing document management processes across the organization.
Laserfiche Document Management, which was largely funded by Telecommunications Funds, has reduced
duplication and made documents available across the organization. By storing documents in digital format, the
City is also able to reduce paper use while making the information available to City employees and the public via
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August 5, 2010
the Eugene web site. The KMWorld article is an excerpt from a case study published by Laserfiche. For more
information, contact Information Services Department Applications Manager Loring Hummel at 541-682-5479.
Slurry Sealing Under Way on Dozens of Residential Streets
Slurry sealing began today on more than 75 residential streets in 10 areas of the city. Slurry sealing is a thin layer
of asphalt emulsion, rock and sand applied to street surfaces to fill small cracks, keep water out of the road base,
and improve drivability and skid resistance. Because slurry sealing adds no structural strength to a roadway, it is
used exclusively on low-volume residential streets (other pavement preservation treatments such as overlays are
used on busier streets and streets that carry a lot of truck traffic).
This year’s slurry sealing is being done by a local contractor, Asphalt Maintenance Associates. Funding for the
$385,000 contract comes from Eugene’s five-cent-per-gallon local gas tax. Preliminary work such as sweeping
streets and sealing larger cracks was done in July. The current schedule calls for the slurry sealing portion of the
work to be completed by August 17; however, the schedule is weather-dependent and may change due to various
factors.
Streets typically are closed for one day while they are being slurry sealed. Residents have received several notices
of the work being done and will be notified at least two days before their street is closed. Detailed information,
including a complete list of streets, maps of work areas, and the current schedule is also posted on the web at
www.eugene-or.gov/slurryseal. For more information about this year’s slurry sealing project, contact Project
Manager Doug Singer at 541-682-8460.
New Signage Coming to a Park Near You
Parks and Open Space Planning staff has been working on a new
maintenance-friendly design for park entry signs. The effort will culminate
this summer and fall with the installation of approximately 20 new signs
throughout the parks system. The first five signs were installed over the
weekend at three community parks: Amazon, Bethel Community, and
Skinner Butte parks. The next set will be installed by early September
and will include signs at Wayne Morse Family Farm, Maurie Jacobs Park
and several neighborhood parks throughout the city.
Identification signage for the park system has long been inconsistent, and
existing signs often require frequent maintenance, repair or outright
replacement. The new signs are consistent in design and color and are fabricated with powder-coated aluminum
posts and frames. The identification components of the signs are easily replaceable and interchangeable,
facilitating ease of long-term maintenance. Each sign includes the name of the park, the year it was established,
hours of park operation, a quote unique to each site, and one of six graphic emblems at the top.
For more information about the park signage project, please contact Emily Proudfoot in Parks and Open Space
Planning at emily.a.proudfoot@ci.eugene.or.us or 541-682-4915.
A Safer Town for Kids
More than a hundred pre-kindergarteners will graduate this Friday from an interactive and engaging program
offered by the Police Department to teach comprehensive and valuable safety lessons to young children.
The two-week day camp, Safety Town, is a nationally
recognized program that introduces young children to
safety awareness and accident prevention through
hands-on safety education. The Eugene Police
Department partners with the Eugene Kiwanis Club
each year to offer the Safety Town program for
children entering kindergarten in the fall.
Safety Town teaches life-saving lessons on
pedestrian, bicycle, vehicle, school bus, playground,
poison, fire, water and home safety, with much of the
information taught through fun activities and
educational play. Teaching tools include a child-sized
town complete with streets, crosswalks, stop signs
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August 5, 2010
and traffic signals, to teach bicycle and pedestrian safety, as well as a real fire truck, police car and school bus the
kids can explore.
Safety Town is expected to be offered again in 2011. For more information, please contact the Crime Prevention
Team supervisor Sergeant Lisa Barrong at 541-682-8248 or Lisa.R.Barrong@ci.eugene.or.us.
Waterfest 2010 Makes Water Accessible to All
On August 14, Adaptive Recreation Services presents Waterfest 2010, a one-day workshop on adaptive water
sports. The event gives people with physical disabilities the opportunity to try adapted water-skiing, kayaking, and
sailing on Quadzilla (a 25-foot Santana race board set up for wheelchair
users), swimming, fishing, and tubing.
Waterfest has been held about every two years since 1987 and there are
typically 25 - 30 participants. This year, a grant from the National Recreation
and Parks Association (NRPA) will enable disabled and injured veterans to
attend at no cost. Waterfest 2010 will take place at Richardson Park on Fern
Ridge Reservoir on Saturday, August 14, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. The cost is $25 and
includes a BBQ lunch. Pre-registration is required.
Waterfest 2010 is presented in partnership with World Wheelchair Sport, Jason Plant, NRPA and US Paralympics.
For more information, contact Patty Prather at 541-682-5311.
Introduction to Grant Writing and Research at Eugene Public Library
Learn where to find grant-givers, what they're looking for, and how they decide which proposals to fund. The
Eugene Public Library will host an Introduction to Grant Writing and Research on Saturday, August 28, from 3 – 5
p.m., at the Downtown Library.
PeaceHealth Grants Manager Virginia Nafus of Emerald Valley Development Professionals will teach participants
how to research funding sources and craft winning proposals, and lead a tour of Eugene Public Library's extensive
research resources, including Foundation Center Online.
For more information, contact Eugene Public Library at 541-682-5450 or www.eugene-or.gov/library.
Recovery Funds at Work: Business Loan Program Helps Local Business
A local printing business will be able to hire at least seven more
employees and buy much needed equipment thanks to stimulus funds and
the City’s Emerging Business Loan Pool Program. Earlier this week,
Shelton-Turnbull Printers was approved for a $250,000 loan that will help
improve their business and create new jobs. The funding came from the
City’s loan program as part of the 2009 American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act.
Shelton-Turnbull provides commercial printing, business forms, roll labels
and digital printing. The business was established in 1924 and has
become one of the largest producers of graphic communications in the
Eugene area. In 2002, the company was purchased by the employees
and has been employee-owned and -operated since that time.
The Emerging Business Loan Pool is part of the City’s Business Development Fund (BDF) program that works to
address extraordinary credit barriers through the application of flexible financing methods. Established to create
jobs and stimulate private sector investment, the BDF has loaned over $17 million to over 220 Eugene businesses,
leveraging an additional $54 million in private investment. Since 1984, the BDF has helped to create over 1,200
new jobs.
For more information, please contact Amanda Nobel Flannery at 541-682-5535.
Parking Permit Program Works to Ease Neighborhood Traffic near University
Epark, the City’s Parking Services program, has been working with residents and neighbors near the University of
Oregon to address parking concerns and increase livability and safety. Postcards were sent this week to let
residents know about updates to parking permit programs in that area.
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In the South University Neighborhood, the neighborhood association board and the City have proposed to expand
the residential parking permit program to remove pockets of unregulated on-street parking. The goal is to reduce
traffic in the South University neighborhood caused by “cruising” to look for a parking space, and to reduce unsafe
parking that blocks sidewalks, occurs in yellow zones, and interferes with bicyclists and pedestrians. The areas will
become part of the Zone A Residential Parking Permit program that regulates on-street parking Monday – Friday,
from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Residents in the neighborhood will be able to purchase Zone A permits that override the
posted parking restrictions. The expanded Zone A program is proposed to begin in September.
A new Zone H parking permit, or “high density” residential parking permit, will also go into effect in September
west and south of the University. The goal of the new Zone H parking permit program is to make parking easier
for residents in this often congested residential area. On-street parking is limited to two hours, Monday – Friday,
from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. A Zone H permit overrides these parking restrictions.
For more information, please contact Jeff Petry at 541-682-5729 or email Jeff.T.Petry@ci.eugene.or.us.
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