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Home My WebLink About05/05/11 - City Council Newsletter EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER May 5, 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 “STONE SOUP” CARTOONIST JAN ELIOT AT EUGENE PUBLIC LIBRARY EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI AWARENESS IN OREGON UPDATED PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT REPORT NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE RECREATION TAKES TO THE WATER STEAM CONVERSION CONTINUES CELEBRATE NATIONAL TRAIN DAY SATURDAY AROUND THE CITY “Stone Soup” Cartoonist Jan Eliot at Eugene Public Library On Saturday, May 7, at 2 p.m., the Eugene Public Library will host a free illustrated talk for all ages by internationally syndicated “Stone Soup” cartoonist Jan Eliot – just in time for Mother’s Day. Eugene's own Jan Eliot started cartooning as a young divorced mother trying to raise two daughters, work full-time, make ends meet, and still have a little fun. These days, her syndicated strip "Stone Soup" celebrates a loving, hilarious, blended, extended family - and it's read by millions of fans in more than 250 newspapers worldwide. Eliot’s latest book is the eighth volume of collected “Stone Soup” strips, “We’ll Be Really Careful!” Her books will be available for purchase and signing at the talk, courtesy of the University of Oregon Bookstore/Duck Store. For more information, contact the Eugene Public Library at 541-682-5450 or www.eugene-or.gov/library. Earthquake and Tsunami Awareness in Oregon Oregon Emergency Management Geologic Hazards Coordinator Althea Rizzo and other state agency experts will hold a free earthquake and tsunami preparedness workshop on the University of Oregon campus May 11 from 6 – 9 p.m. Scientific evidence indicates that Oregon is at risk for a much larger and potentially more damaging earthquake associated with the Cascadia Subduction Zone that is expected to generate strong ground shaking and a destructive tsunami. Historically, Oregon has suffered considerable damage from two moderate earthquake events in 1993, and a distant tsunami from Alaska in 1964. The recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan and subsequent damage to the southern Oregon coast brings the hazard home and offers a teachable moment. The public is invited to participate in this talk about how to be more prepared for earthquakes and tsunamis in Oregon. To RSVP for this event or for more information, contact Stacy Burr, City of Eugene Emergency Management, at 541-682-5860. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1 May 5, 2011 Updated Pavement Management Report Now Available Online An updated report on the condition of Eugene’s streets shows progress has been made, but more work is needed to further reduce the backlog of needed repairs on the 1,324 lane-miles of streets in the city. The 2011 Pavement Management Report was compiled by the Public Works Maintenance Division’s Surface Technical Team to provide updated information on the condition of asphalt paving in Eugene using 2010 rating and inventory data. The report includes an inventory of streets by improvement status and functional classification, details how a pavement management system is used to inspect and rate pavement surfaces, explains Eugene’s pavement preservation program, and includes updated information about treatment types and costs. Among the key findings in the report:  Overall, Eugene has made progress in keeping streets in good repair (as measured by increases in the percentage of streets that do not need treatment). The progress is most notable on arterial and collector streets, where the pavement management program has focused its resources for the past several years (pages 11-14 of report).  The infusions of bond funding and local gas tax revenue have been key factors in the positive trend on street repairs(pages 1 and 17).  Despite these positive trends, the City still faces an estimated backlog of $139 million in needed pavement repairs, and that backlog could grow to approximately $250 million over the next 10 years if the bond measure expires and no new sources of revenue are found (pages 1 - 2).  Increasing the street repair funding level to $18 million a year, as recommended by the Council Subcommittee on Transportation Funding Solutions in May 2007, and endorsed by the council, continues the positive trends by reducing the backlog and increasing the number of streets not needing immediate repairs. Investing even more ($21.5 million a year) would have a greater positive impact, eliminating the backlog within 10 years (page 2).  More than 50 unimproved streets have received some level of repair since 2008. That leaves an estimated backlog of $12 million in repairs that still need to be done, or $60 million to bring all the unimproved streets in Eugene up to urban standards. (Both figures are over and above the $139 million backlog for repairs on improved asphalt streets.) Currently, Public Works Maintenance plans on spending $200,000 annually over the next six years to address a portion of these remaining repairs on unimproved streets (page 15).  There are approximately 41 miles of shared-use paths identified in the Pavement Management System. These paths are scheduled to be rated during the 2011 season using a new rating methodology that will help determine the condition and funding needs of this portion of the transportation infrastructure. Paths designed, constructed or reconstructed to current standards are expected to have a 50-year life (page 18). To download an electronic copy of the 2011 Pavement Management Report, go to www.eugene-or.gov/pw. For more information, contact Maintenance Director Jeff Lankston at 541-682-4800. Recreation Takes to the Water Recreation Service’s Outdoor Program is offering three opportunities to get folks on the water as part of the Wings & Wine Festival at Fern Ridge Reservoir on May 14. Adults can join morning events to view yellow-headed blackbirds, black terns and other water birds while paddling a traditional 29-foot voyaging canoe, or get close to wetland raptors and other water-loving birds while paddling a stable recreation touring kayak. These activities both begin at 8:15 a.m. A sailfor families with children age eight and older is planned for the evening, beginning at 5:30 p.m. The water activities mark the beginning of Recreation’s very busy boating season that includes sailing lessons, kayaking adventures, family raft trips, and canoeing excursions to area lakes. For more about these activities or to register, go to www.eugene-or.gov/recguide and click on “Outdoor Recreation” on the table of contents page. For more information, contact Roger Bailey at 541-682-5329. Steam Conversion Continues The “Steam Conversion” projects currently underway at the Overpark, Atruim and Parcade will provide another source of heating to replace Eugene Water & Electric Board’s (EWEB) steam service, which will be discontinued in 2012. The Hult Center was retrofitted last year with an energy-efficient condensing boiler heating system, when the EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 May 5, 2011 Facility Management Division expedited the engineering and bidding to have it installed in late summer due to the Hult Center’s busy calendar of activities. The Overpark and Atrium will receive systems similar to that of the Hult Center. In addition, the Parcade project will renew and upgrade its groundwater-source heat pump system. Work on these projects is scheduled to be completed by mid-summer. Engineers consulting on these projects are Systems West Engineers and Solarc Architects and Engineers. Contractors are Professional Mechanical Inc., C. J. Hansen Co., Inc., Essex General Construction Inc., and Harvey & Price Mechanical Contractors. Meredith Fox, project manager of the Parcade project said, "We're coordinating closely with Planning & Development Department (PDD) managers Scott Luell, Jeff Petry, and Eric Jungjohann of Pacific Real Estate Services to ensure their building customers experience minimum disruption during this highly specialized and technical work that affects so many building areas.” Russ Mecredy was project manager for the work at the Hult and is managing the current projects at the Overpark and Atrium buildings. These projects are partially funded by a United States Department of Energy (USDOE)-administered Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG), part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2008 (ARRA) coordinated by PDD. Because federal funds are involved, these projects will comply with associated federal labor, equity, and “Buy American” regulations. The budget for all four projects is $1.76 million, with up to $516,000 reimbursable through the EECBG grant. For more information, contact Russ Mecredy at 541-682-6024 or at russ.mecredy@ci.eugene.or.us. Celebrate National Train Day Saturday Mayor Kitty Piercy and State Representative Nancy Nathanson will speak at the Eugene Amtrak Station in celebration of National Train Day on Saturday, May 7, 2011, at 2:30 p.m. The event, which takes place from 1 - 5 p.m., will feature model trains from the Willamette Cascade Model Railroad Club, exhibits, information, and railroad author and photographer Jesse Burkhardt, who will be on site signing copies of his books. Don’t miss the celebration th of the fourth annual National Train Day, and Amtrak’s 40 birthday. Hundreds of events will take place across the country, including four major celebrations in Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. For more information, contact Jessica Mumme at 541-682-5049. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 May 5, 2011