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Home My WebLink About03/10/11 - City Council Newsletter EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER March 10, 2011 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 LANE COMMUNITY COLLEGE GROUND BREAKING HELPS FULFILL DOWNTOWN POTENTIAL RIGHT-SIZING NEIGHBORHOOD BOUNDARIES AIRPORT RUNWAY JOB EARNS TOP HONORS FROM ASPHALT PAVING ASSOCIATION SMALL BUSINESS CLINIC OFFERS INFORMATION AND SUPPORT AT EUGENE PUBLIC LIBRARY EIGHT SPRING BREAK CAMPS OFFERED ‘HEALTHY LANDSCAPE, HEALTHY HOME’ FOCUS OF SPRING HOME SHOW BOOTH AROUND THE CITY Lane Community College Ground Breaking Helps Fulfill Downtown Potential Hundreds gathered downtown last Friday to celebrate the ground breaking for Lane Community College’s (LCC) new downtown campus. Mayor Piercy, along with LCC President Mary Spilde, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio, LCC Board of Education Chair Tony McCown, LCC Student Body President Mario Parker-Milligan and Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber's Education Policy Advisor Nancy Golden dug in to help fill the “pit” during the ceremonial ground filling. The Downtown Campus will be a landmark project for education, business and the community. The project includes a 90,000 square-foot academic building and an 87,000 square-foot housing hall. The student- housing complex will bring 250 new residents to downtown, and LCC anticipates serving up to 8,000 students annually through the new From left to right: LCC Student Body President Mario Parker-Milligan, U.S. Senator Jeff Downtown Campus. Merkley, Mayor Kitty Piercy, U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio, LCC President Mary Spilde, and Education Policy Advisor Nancy Golden. The building design is intended to both demonstrate and teach sustainable building strategies. The college plans to achieve LEED Platinum certification on the academic building, which will house Lane’s nationally recognized Energy Management Program as well as many other programs and services. With a projected total investment of $53 million, the project will result in as many as 272 to 380 temporary construction jobs estimated to last 18 months and approximately 26 indirect and induced jobs in areas such as production and transportation of construction materials. Construction begins this month on a fast-track schedule targeting completion for the fall of 2012. For more information, contact Denny Braud at denny.braud@ci.eugene.or.us or 541-682-5536. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1 March 10, 2011 Right-Sizing Neighborhood Boundaries The City Council approved neighborhood association boundary guidelines in 2000. According to established criteria, a neighborhood association boundary should not include fewer than 300 residential units or more than eight percent of total residential addresses in the city (approximately 5,000 in 2000) and should avoid internal divisions created by major natural or artificial barriers, such as rivers and major highways. The boundaries of a number of City- recognized neighborhood associations are not consistent with the guidelines. Of particular note are the two largest neighborhoods: Cal Young Neighborhood Association (CYNA) and Active Bethel Citizens (ABC). Each of these groups includes nearly 11,000 residential addresses or more than 14 percent of all city residential addresses within their borders. Randy Papé Beltline and the Delta Highway also cut through the neighborhoods, creating significant internal physical barriers. The Neighborhood Empowerment Initiative Action Plan recommended dividing these areas into smaller associations. The size and configuration of a neighborhood’s boundaries can make it difficult to keep neighbors informed, sustain participation and meet expectations of broad representation. In addition, respondents to the Eugene Neighborhood Survey said the thing that would most encourage them to get involved in their neighborhood association was knowing someone who was already participating. Those who live in the CYNA or ABC areas, have less likelihood of knowing someone who is participating in their neighborhood association. Neighborhood Services is working with CYNA to design a process that creates more manageable neighborhood boundaries for the area and could serve as a model for other neighborhoods struggling with this issue. A working group comprised of the CYNA executive committee, councilors George Poling and Mike Clark, and the Neighborhood Leaders Council co-chairs began meeting this week. The work of this group will result in a recommendation to the neighborhood association membership on new boundaries. The new neighborhood associations will eventually submit charter documents to the council for formal recognition. For more information, contact Michael Kinnison at 541-682-5009 or michael.j.kinnison@ci.eugene.or.us. Airport Runway Job Earns Top Honors from Asphalt Paving Association The City of Eugene and Wildish Construction received a first-place paving award for their work on last summer’s $10 million runway rehabilitation project at the Eugene Airport. The award was presented by the Asphalt Pavement Association of Oregon (APAO), at the Oregon Asphalt Conference on March 8 in Eugene. First-place recognition of the Eugene runway project was in the commercial/industrial category. This category is reserved for large paving projects that are not part of a road system. Candidate projects in this category are often airports and large parking lots. This year’s finalists also included Portland International Airport’s north runway extension, and Knife River’s Medford Costco parking lot, which took second and third place, respectively. Presenting the awards was APAO President Jim Huddleston. Assisting him and representing the American Public Works Association (APWA) of Oregon at the event was Eugene City Engineer Mark Schoening. APOA, which has recognized asphalt paving excellence every year for 41 years, cited the runway’s smoothness, general appearance, technically challenging mix design, and overall project complexity in awarding first place to the City of Eugene and Wildish Construction. The project to repave runway 16R/34L took 30 days. Construction crews operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for the full month of June 2010. The project included resurfacing the full 8,009-foot length of the runway, grade corrections and runway shoulders built to current design standards, reconstruction of Taxiway A6, replacement of runway lights, and installing an in-pavement temperature sensor system. The project called for about 97,000 square- yards of rock, 60,000 tons of asphalt, and 135,000 square-feet of pavement markings. Project Engineer Teri Higgins and Project Manager Patrick Cox accepted the award on behalf of the City of Eugene. Paving Foreman Marty Collins and Paving Superintendent Darrell Harwood accepted the award on behalf of Wildish Construction. For more information, contact Patrick Cox at 541-682-6854. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 March 10, 2011 Small Business Clinic Offers Information and Support at Eugene Public Library Running a small business or thinking of starting one? Get free one-on-one advice and mentoring at the Small Business Clinic on Thursdays, Mar. 10 and 24, and Apr. 7 and 21, at the Downtown Eugene Public Library. Drop in between 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. for an individual, confidential session with a Senior Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) counselor to address the issues most important to businesses right now. SCORE provides counselors to America's small businesses and is a national nonprofit and partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration, dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and helping small businesses start, grow, and succeed. For more information, call the Eugene Public Library at 541-682-5450 or visit www.eugene-or.gov/Library. Eight Spring Break Camps Offered Registration is now open for spring break camps offered by Recreation Services, Mar. 21 – 28, for ages three - 14. Camps are full- or part-day, and are offered for one, five or six days. Eight different camps are offered on a variety of subjects including arts and crafts, soccer, water polo and other sports, adventures, and a special counselor-in-training camp. Camps are held at Petersen Barn, Amazon or Sheldon community centers, and Echo Hollow Pool. For full descriptions of the camps or to register, go to www.eugene-or.gov/recguide . For more information, contact Sandy Shaffer at 541-682-5373. ‘Healthy Landscape, Healthy Home’ Focus of Spring Home Show Booth A showcase display with tips on how to have a healthy landscape will be just inside the entryway at Expo Hall 1 at the Lane County Spring Home Show this weekend. Booth visitors are encouraged to learn more about understanding product labels, choices in lawn care products and practices and what to consider for keeping children, pets and the home environment healthy for all. Booth visitors who complete a short questionnaire will have the option to enter a drawing for multiple prizes donated by local businesses and several agencies. The information station will have handouts on a range of topics and staff from partner agencies will be available to answer questions. This is the third year that an interactive booth, created and staffed by the Lane Pollution Prevention Coalition (Lane P2C) will be featured in the Expo Hall. The Lane P2C is a group that works together to share information and inform and educate residents about pollution prevention tips. The participating agencies include the City of Eugene’s stormwater and wastewater management programs, City of Springfield Environmental Services, Department of Environmental Quality, Lane County Public Works - Recycling and Household Hazardous Waste Programs, Springfield Utility Board, Lane Regional Air Protection Agency, Department of Human Services Drinking Water Program and Eugene Water & Electric Board. The City’s stormwater management program focuses on a commitment to protect local waterways while promoting environmental stewardship. For more information, please call Kathy Eva, public information specialist for the Stormwater Management Program, at 541-682-2739 or visit www.eugene-or.gov/happyrivers. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 March 10, 2011