HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/09/10 - City Council Newsletter
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER
September 9, 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
ECOLOGICAL BURNS TO BENEFIT ENDANGERED SPECIES AND RESTORATION RESEARCH
AVIATION EXCELLENCE AWARD RECOGNIZES EUGENE AIRPORT EMPLOYEE
DEDICATION EVENT SATURDAY GIVES PUBLIC A PREVIEW OF NEW DELTA PONDS BRIDGE
AROUND THE CITY
Ecological Burns to Benefit Endangered Species and Restoration Research
This fall, the Rivers to Ridges partners will be undertaking ecological burns at several West Eugene wetlands sites.
The City of Eugene’s Natural Resources team, with the assistance of the Eugene Fire and EMS Department
(EFD), has planned two small ecological burns at the City’s Coyote Prairie site.
These two burns will be very small, totaling only 1.5 acres in
size, but each has an important purpose. One will remove
competing vegetation from around a population of
Bradshaw’s lomatium, a federally listed endangered plant.
This species benefits from open ground following ecological
burns, and the population at Coyote Prairie increased by
over 50 percent following a 2008 burn. The second
ecological burn will focus on research plots that are part of a
multi-year study funded by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency to research methods for improving native
species diversity and abundance in restored Willamette
Valley prairies.
The Rivers to Ridges Partnership (formerly known as the
West Eugene Wetlands Partnership) relies on ecological
burning as a restoration tool to protect valuable biological
City of Eugene and Oregon Department of Forestry crews
diversity in prairie and savanna ecosystems. Removal of
monitor an ecological burn.
standing dead vegetation also benefits the community by
decreasing the chances of uncontrolled wildfire at the wildland-urban interface. City staff works hard to make sure
the community is protected from potential negative impacts of fire. EFD and the City’s Natural Resources staff
carefully assess weather conditions and burn only on days when the wind will blow smoke away from residential
areas. The Lane Regional Air Protection Agency reviews the prescribed burn plans each year, issuing a permit and
conditions under which burns may proceed.
Additional burns may be performed by Rivers to Ridges partner agencies on their own lands, including the U.S.
Bureau of Land Management, The Nature Conservancy, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Together these
efforts will result in the enhancement and protection of many of the important natural areas enjoyed by the
community.
For more information, contact Natural Area Restoration Supervisor Trevor Taylor at
trevor.h.taylor@ci.eugene.or.us, or 541-682-4888.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1
September 9, 2010
Aviation Excellence Award Recognizes Eugene Airport Employee
Eugene Airport Director of Communication and Development Cathryn Stephens has been awarded the 2010
Aviation Excellence Award by the Northwest Chapter of American Association of Airport Executives (NWAAAE).
“This is a well-deserved honor. Cathryn’s work has had a tremendous impact on both customer service and
positive community relations at the Eugene Airport (EUG),” said Eugene Airport Director Tim Doll, A.A.E. “One
example is her use of social media which earned EUG a spot in the top four of Forbes Magazine’s ranking of
airports using both Twitter and Facebook.”
According to NWAAAE, “The Aviation Excellence Award is intended to recognize those airport management
professionals, other than the person having primary responsibility for the airport, who have gone out of their way
and given substantial extra effort to ensure the promotion, operations, maintenance or development of aviation
and/or the airport. The recipient should be a person of exceptional qualities who may perform management,
supervisory, operational, engineering, planning, or maintenance functions in the second or other level of the airport
organization.”
Stephens took the position at the Eugene Airport in 2007. She is a certified member of the AAAE and is currently
working toward accreditation in the organization.
NWAAAE includes the states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming and Colorado, and
the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Yukon, and the Northwest Territory, and the
countries of Asia.
For more information, contact Eugene Airport Director Tim Doll at tim.m.doll@ci.eugene.or.us or 541-682-5430.
Dedication Event Saturday Gives Public a Preview of New Delta Ponds Bridge
After more than a year of construction, the Delta Ponds Bridge is ready for a public preview. Eugene Mayor Kitty
Piercy and members of the community will formally dedicate the new bridge on Saturday, September 11, at 11
a.m.
After the formal dedication, a short parade led by the
One More Time Marching Band will give pedestrians
and non-motorized vehicles an opportunity to cross
the new bridge. Local residents are also invited to
have fun at a community festival from 9:30 a.m. to
3:30 p.m. at 900 Robin Hood Avenue, at the east end
of the new bridge. “All Paths Lead to the Crossing”
will feature food, music and lots of family-oriented
activities. Admission is free.
While the dedication marks the substantial
completion of the $5.6 million bridge project, the
work isn’t completely done. Once the fun is over on
Saturday, the contractor will reclose the bridge and
Artistic rendering shows how the new bridge will look at night with the
lights on.
finish installing permanent hand rails and putting up
specialty lighting, including cable lights on the top-most cables and the edge of the bridge deck. For more
information about the dedication event or the bridge project, contact Project Manager Patrick Cox at 541-682-
6854.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2
September 9, 2010