HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/15/11 - City Council Newsletter
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER
December 15, 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 EDITION
PARKS STAFF HOSTS THIRD BETHEL COMMUNITY PARK MEETING
DOWNLOAD MUSIC AT EUGENE PUBLIC LIBRARY WEBSITE – FREE AND LEGAL
EUGENE ADAPTIVE PROGRAM DESIGNATED A PARALYMPIC SPORTS CLUB
ONLINE OPEN HOUSES INCREASE REACH FOR PLANNING PROJECTS
HUMAN RIGHTS RETROSPECTIVE BOOK PROJECT COMPLETED
COMMUNITY HELPS CREATE SOUTH WILLAMETTE DRAFT CONCEPT PLAN
NEW PARK IDENTITY SIGNS INSTALLED
AROUND THE CITY
Parks Staff Hosts Third Bethel Community Park Meeting
On Dec. 8, Parks and Open Space Planning hosted the third in a series
of community workshops to discuss updating the Bethel Community
Park Master Plan to include a 60,000-square-foot community center. The
conversation with the community began in May of this year and was
sparked by an offer from the Eugene Family YMCA to construct and
operate a new YMCA facility in Bethel Community Park.
The existing park master plan includes a community center; however, it
is currently shown as a 10,000-square-foot facility. Staff conducted a
second meeting in September and offered three site plan choices for the
community center building and related parking. Two of these showed a
new and larger community center, and one showed no change to the
master plan.
In web-based surveys, the majority of survey respondents have been
Bethel Community Park Master Plan Proposal
supportive of the new facility, while expressing reservations related to
(December 2011)
traffic and pedestrian safety both on and off site. A preferred option was
presented at the most recent meeting showing the new community center on the west side of the park along Legacy
Street. Community members are encouraged to submit feedback on this option by clicking the web survey link at
www.eugene-or.gov/bethelpark.
For more information, please contact Emily Proudfoot in Parks and Open Space Planning at 541-682-4915 or
emily.a.proudfoot@ci.eugene.or.us.
Download Music at Eugene Public Library Website – Free and Legal
The Eugene Public Library now offers free, legal MP3 music file downloads on its
website through the Freegal Music service.
Freegal Music is an online database that offers more than 500,000 songs from Sony
Music, including current hits, classics, and many other styles of music. New songs are
added to the collection daily.
From Ke$ha to Springsteen, Brubeck to Beethoven, once the songs are downloaded, they can be kept forever. The
songs never need to be returned and they never expire.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1
December 15, 2011
Visit the Eugene Public Library website to download music 24/7. The songs are in MP3 format and will work on
computers and MP3 players, as well as iPods, iPhones, and other smartphones. Eugene Public Library cardholders
can download up to three songs each week. For more information, contact the Eugene Public Library at 541-682-5450
or www.eugene-or.gov/library.
Eugene Adaptive Program Designated a Paralympic Sports Club
Paralympic Sport Eugene, a program of City of Eugene Adaptive Recreation Services, is one of
four new paralympic sport clubs in the nation. U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic
Committee, announced the addition of the new clubs on Dec. 6.
The clubs offer ongoing sports and recreation opportunities in the community to youth, adults,
active-duty military personnel and veterans with physical and visual disabilities. Paralympic
sport activities offered by Eugene Adaptive Recreation include “Alpine Adventures” adaptive
skiing, “EyeCycle” adapted tandem cycling for blind and vision-impaired, and a variety of clinics such as sled hockey,
wheelchair tennis, and adapted kayaking.
With this new designation, Adaptive Recreation will be joining a variety of community organizations to provide even
more paralympic sport activities. U.S. Paralympics is partnering with hundreds of community organizations across the
country to help grow access to daily physical activity programs for individuals with physical and visual disabilities, with
an emphasis on youth, injured service members and veterans. Research proves daily physical activity raises self-
esteem, helps individuals develop peer relationships, increases achievement, enhances overall health and improves
quality of life.
The three other newly designated paralympic sports clubs are:
Paralympic Sport Central Iowa, a program located in Ames, Iowa;
Paralympic Sport Southern Maryland, a program of St. Mary’s County Recreation & Parks in Leonardtown,
Maryland, and
Paralympic Sport Blue Ridge/Shenandoah, a program of Therapeutic Adventures Inc. in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The paralympic sport club network now includes 145 community organizations across the U.S., using sports and
recreation to improve the lives of individuals with physical and visual disabilities. For more information, visit
www.USParalympics.org/SportClubs or contact Patty Prather at 541-682-5311.
Online Open Houses Increase Reach for Planning Projects
With ever-increasing numbers of people getting their news and information online, the City recently decided to launch
online versions of more traditional open houses for planning projects. The Envision Eugene Online Open House has
been live since early November. Preliminary numbers show that in the first
month, over 200 visitors stopped by online. Physical open houses draw
anywhere from 10-100 people, depending on the topic and stage of the
process.
With embedded videos, posters, and accompanying text, visitors have
access to all of the information that is traditionally available at a physical
meeting. Each page features a comment link that ties back to the specific
page where the comment originated, allowing staff to easily match a
comment to the content.
Feedback from visitors indicates they like the format: “This online method
of doing the Open House is very convenient and very helpful. Well laid out, and easy to download. Very detailed pdf
maps so we could zoom in and still see everything with great detail. I hope other City open houses can be presented
this way. THANKS!”
For more information on Envision Eugene, contact Envision Eugene Public Involvement Manager Terri Harding at
terri.l.harding@ci.eugene.or.us or 541-682-5635.
Human Rights Retrospective Book Project Completed
Equity and Human Rights Center staff recently completed the Human Rights Retrospective Book Project. This
publication takes a look back over the past 20 years at the events, activities, projects and accomplishments of the
Human Rights Commission from 1990 to 2011.
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December 15, 2011
Major changes were recently made to the Eugene Code sections related to the
commission’s structure and mission, including changes to the way the commission
operates, its size and subcommittees. With the production of this book, Equity and
Human Rights Center staff wanted to honor the past and look ahead to future
opportunities for the commission and the community.
For over 20 years, the commission has been involved in events and activities such as
the Asian Celebration, We Are Bethel, Project Homeless Connect, Transgender
Awareness Week, Anti-Hate Forum, Human Rights Summit and more. The commission
and its volunteers continue to be a vital part of the Eugene community, acting as agents
for change and education, furthering human rights goals and standing up for fair and
ethical treatment of people in the community.
Enjoy the book and look back at the hard work and dedication of the commissioners who
volunteered their time, energy and talent advocating for community members and
pushing for change. The book can be viewed online at www.eugene-or.gov/hrc under “Events and Information” or at
HR Retrospective Book Project. For more information, please contact Michelle Mortensen at 541-682-6378 or
michelle.e.mortensen@ci.eugene.or.us.
Community Helps Create South Willamette Draft Concept Plan
Exciting ideas and shared challenges are emerging from the pilot study of area planning in South Willamette. Area
planning is one of the strategies of the “Compact Urban Development and Efficient Transportation Options” pillar of
Envision Eugene. Businesses, residents, property owners and customers in the
area, as well as design professionals and City staff, have brainstormed how the area
might change in desirable ways to accommodate additional housing and a more
vibrant business district over the next 20 years.
An online presentation, survey and public workshop on Dec. 7, offered the
community opportunities to explore and provide feedback on the draft concept plan.
The plan sketches out an integrated vision for the future of the area. View the
presentation and take the survey through Jan. 9 at www.eugene-or.gov/SWillamette.
Community interest in the project is growing; so far, the concept plan has been
viewed over 450 times online and over 60 people have submitted surveys.
The Draft Concept Plan offers ideas about where more commercial buildings and
denser kinds of urban housing might be located, ideas for enhancing the shopping
districts, and better ways to access the area for all users of the streets and
sidewalks. In the spring, a focused study of Willamette Street will begin, funded by a
Transportation and Growth Management Grant.
Participants involved in this project are working to make a really great place by
building on all the good things that are already happening in and around the area.
Kate Boney, owner of Turtles Bar and Grill in the South Willamette district, says it well, “A community’s growth is
inevitable... having a good plan in place to support that growth in a positive way is priceless.”
For more information, or to learn how to get involved, contact South Willamette Area Planning Manager Patricia
Thomas at patricia.thomas@ci.eugene.or.us or 541-682-5561.
New Park Identity Signs Installed
Contractors completed work last week on the installation of 28 park identity signs
in park sites throughout the city. This concludes the second phase of this effort
and brings the total number of parks with the new identity signs to 44. The signs
have replaced many aging and deteriorating wood signs in the park system with
high quality metal framed signs that will significantly lower maintenance needs
over the life of the signs. The sign panels are a high-pressure laminate product
that has proven highly resistant to vandalism in the field and provide a consistent
and easily identifiable look for the park system as a whole. Each sign includes the
park name, hours, and a quote that is unique to the park site.
Please contact Emily Proudfoot, landscape architect with Parks and Open Space,
for information at 541-682-4915 or emily.a.proudfoot@ci.eugene.or.us.
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December 15, 2011