HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/11/13 - City Council Newsletter
City of Eugene
125 East 8 Avenue, 2 Floor
thnd
Eugene, Oregon 97401
(541) 682-5010
(541) 682-5414 (FAX)
www.eugene-or.gov
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER
April 11, 2013
IN THIS EDITION
ADULTS INVITED TO WORK WITH WOOD AT CAMPBELL CENTER
OREGON’S CHIEF EDUCATION OFFICER RUDY CREW AT EUGENE PUBLIC LIBRARY
ARTISTS LEARN IMPORTANT SKILLS WHILE CULTURAL POLICY REVIEW GOAL MET
GIVING A HAND TO COMMUNITY BROADBAND PLAN: A MID-POINT GRANT UPDATE
APPLICATION LAUNCHED FOR BUILDING INSPECTIONS
2013 ANOTHER BUSY YEAR FOR PUBLIC WORKS PROJECTS IN EUGENE
NEW EPISODE OF ‘WORKING CITY’ FEATURES CITY ROBOTS
AROUND THE CITY
Adults Invited to Work with Wood at Campbell Center
The City of Eugene invites adults who want to use power tools for wood projects to use the woodshop at Campbell
Community Center, 155 High Street. The woodshop is open Monday-Friday, from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. There is a $2-per-day drop-
in fee to use the facility. Please sign in when entering the shop.
Stop by for a free orientation to the woodshop at Campbell Center and receive a coupon
for woodshop use. The next orientations are from 10:00 - 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 16,
and Friday, May 17. No registration; just drop in.
Participants may sign up for the Basic Woodworking Class offered from June 3 – 24, and
again August 5 – 26, once they know how to use the equipment in the shop. Learn safe and
fun woodworking skills and make a laminated cutting board with some of the most used
tools.
Learn more about the woodworking class online or call Tom Powers at 541-682-5318.
Oregon’s Chief Education Officer Rudy Crew at Eugene Public Library
In honor of National Library Week, the Downtown Eugene Public Library will host a talk by Dr. Rudy Crew, the chief
education officer of the State of Oregon, on Wednesday, April17, at 6 p.m. Admission is
free.
A major figure in U.S. education reform and the author of “Only Connect: The Way to Save
Our Schools,” Crew calls on communities to demand a commitment to standards of
excellence and equity for all students. His aim: to ensure that every student in every
school learns every day and benefits from every dollar spent, creating a next generation
that is “educated, able, and willing to succeed.”
Crew has been a professional educator for 25 years, including superintendent of the
Miami-Dade County Public Schools and chancellor of the New York City Public Schools.
Throughout his career, his focus has been on ensuring a quality education and effective
start for children of all backgrounds. He has initiated dozens of reforms, including the
adoption of curriculum standards for all schools, the elimination of tenure for principals, and school-based budgeting. He
has been honored with numerous awards, including the NAACP Educational Leadership Award and the Arthur Ashe
Leadership Award.
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April 11, 2013
Crew believes in passing onto others the opportunities that have been afforded him, for which he credits a father who
encouraged him to excel. As the first male in his family to go to college, and one of the first black students to integrate his
undergraduate alma mater, Babson College, Crew speaks passionately and personally about the importance of education
among the poor, and of diversity in the educational system.
For more information, contact the Eugene Public Library at 541-682-5450 or www.eugene-or.gov/library.
Artists Learn Important Skills While Cultural Policy Review Goal Met
It was an opportunity Cultural Services could not miss - meeting Goal IV from the City’s 2007 Cultural Policy Review: “Build
the capacity of Eugene’s artists and cultural organizations through coordinated programs of professional development.”
Survival Skills for Artists was made possible through the sale of the late David
Joyce’s Flying People at the Eugene Airport. The course was originally developed
by David Joyce and has not been offered since his passing in 2003. Cultural Services
worked in close partnership with Lane Community College’s Division of Arts and
artist Dan Schmitt to bring Survival Skills for Artists back to the community.
Intended as a business skills class for artists, the course has provided 46 aspiring
artists with over 60 hours of educational classroom time since September 2012.
Charly Swing, local artist, said after attending the 10-week class in downtown Eugene offered this last winter, “When I
signed up for the Art Survival Skills class I was looking for a community of artists working to grow their art businesses.
With Dan Schmitt's guidance I updated my website, business cards, and created a Facebook business page. During the
process of reaching out to my network I received a gracious offer from a friend who believes in my artwork and wanted to
offer financial support. I also received word that I am accepted into the MFA program at the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. I appreciate the City of Eugene
making the Art Survival course available and look forward to participating in more art
development and community building courses when I return home to Eugene in 2015.”
The course work taught by Schmitt, an accomplished artist himself, includes: writing an
artist’s statement, pricing the created work, developing a biography, documenting the
creative process, and much more. In addition to the hands-on course work, Schmitt invites
artists and arts administrators as guest speakers, including Betsy Wolfston, Gary Tepher,
Robert Canaga, David Funk, and the City of Eugene’s Public Art Manager Isaac Marquez.
Last week, a third Survival Skills for Artists class began on the Lane Community College campus and 23 more artists are
beginning a 10-week effort to gain skills and abilities for success.
For more information, contact Marquez at 541-682-2057 or isaac.r.marquez@ci.eugene.or.us.
Giving a Hand to Community Broadband Plan: A Mid-Point Grant Update
Last fall, Community Development and Information Services Division (ISD) staff announced the receipt of a Community
Broadband Technical Assistance grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) via
the State of Oregon. Eugene was among the first of eight grant awards in Oregon. Staff and the state’s technical assistance
team led stakeholder workshops over two full days in January focusing on four topic areas: Digital Inclusion and Adoption,
Education and Education Technologies, Community Development and Public Services, and Economic Development
Opportunity. Members from all groups returned for a session on March 8.
Over 45 individuals, representing a wide variety of organizations, participated in the broadband planning process.
Participants included representatives from Eugene K-12 school districts, University of Oregon, Lane Community College,
private and non-profit education and economic development organizations, Eugene Water & Electric Board, City of Eugene,
Lane Council of Governments, Lane County, and State education leaders. Currently, City staff, the state technical assistance
team, and Milo Mecham (Lane Council of Governments and manager of a regional broadband grant) are reviewing the input
from the workshops and preparing a final draft plan by May 1.
This grant and plan complements Envision Eugene’s pillars and the Regional Prosperity Plan’s strategic goals. The
Community Broadband Plan will serve as a guide to comprehensive actions that will enhance Eugene’s performance in
technology adoption. The plan also helps to better position the City for additional state and federal funding requests for
increasing innovation and economic development.
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April 11, 2013
Learn more about Eugene's Broadband Planning Project at http://www.oregonbroadbandplanning.org/About-the-Project/
or by calling Bill Ellis in Planning at 541-682-8367 or Pam Berrian in ISD at 541-682-5590.
Application Launched for Building Inspections
In order to make City building services easier to access and use, Building and Permit Services is
launching a new smartphone app for scheduling building inspections. The new app, called “My Permits,”
is available at the iITunes store and Google store, or by scanning the QR code (pictured at right) with a
smartphone.
Once the application is installed, users set up an account and associate their active permit(s)
with that account. When the app is opened, the list of permits is displayed and choosing the
inspection to be scheduled is visual and fast.
Over the last several years, Building and Permit Services has been developing new and
innovative ways to serve its customers, both in the office and in the field – including online
building inspection scheduling, mobile work stations for inspectors, and an online building
permit search system.
On average, the City of Eugene receives 160 building inspection requests each day. These
inspections help preserve and protect public safety, as well as property values and the
environment by ensuring that building and remodeling projects in the community meet safety
standards. In addition to the new app and online scheduling, inspection support staff are also available Monday – Friday,
from 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., to assist with scheduling.
For more information, contact Debbie Wells at 541-682-6828 or email debbie.l.wells@ci.eugene.or.us.
2013 Another Busy Year for Public Works Projects in Eugene
Another busy road repair season is under way in Eugene. More than 15 major street repair jobs are on tap, along with
public works projects designed to improve City parks, fix underground stormwater and wastewater systems, and improve
the Eugene Airport.
The first major street repair project started this week on Coburg Road from
Willakenzie Road north to Beltline. This $687,000 project, funded primarily by
federal grants and local gas taxes, continues pavement repairs where the 2011
project left off. In addition, pedestrian and bicycling improvements will be made
on Coburg Road from Beltline to Oakway Road. Depending on the weather, all
work is expected to be completed by the end of May.
Starting in May, one of the bigger contracts being managed by Eugene Public
Works will begin. Fifth Avenue from High Street to Blair Boulevard, Blair
Boulevard from Monroe Street to 2 Avenue and Van Buren Street from Blair
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Boulevard north to the railroad tracks will be reconstructed. Because of the
extensive amount of repair work required to fix these streets, several blocks at a
time will be closed to through-traffic. Total cost of the project is estimated at $3.5
million, with the primary source of revenue coming from 2008 voter-approved
bond funds.
Repairs to Lorane Highway from Paige Avenue to Washington Street will also get
an early start. This project will rehabilitate the existing roadway using a process in
Pavement repairs under way on Coburg Road.
which the existing structure is mixed in place with cement to create a stable road
base, with a new asphalt surface applied to the top. Work on the Lorane Highway project is scheduled to begin in mid-May.
Other major road repair projects in 2013 include: 10 Avenue from Olive to Jefferson streets, 18 Avenue from
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Washington to Chambers streets, West 5 Avenue from Highway 99 to Bailey Hill Road, Alder Street from 18 to 24
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avenues, Broadway from Lincoln to Monroe streets, Hilyard Street from East Broadway to 13 Avenue, Olive Street from
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10 to 11 avenues, and Willamette Street from 19 to 23 avenues.
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In addition to road work, repairs and safety improvements will be made to two shared-use paths: Fern Ridge Path from
Terry Street to Greenhill Road; and South Bank Path from Skinner Butte Park to the DeFazio Bridge.
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April 11, 2013
In the stormwater category, drywells are slated to be eliminated in the Willowbrook area of Santa Clara, and bank
stabilization projects are planned on Amazon Creek between Chambers and Arthur streets and also between Bertelsen
Road and Royal Avenue. Wastewater system repairs are slated in several areas of Eugene. On East Broadway/Franklin
Boulevard at Ferry Lane, work began April 1 to construct sewer lines in the eastbound lanes. Elsewhere, sewers are being
repaired as necessary prior to street paving projects, and deteriorated sewer lines will be replaced or relined at numerous
locations throughout the city.
A big parks project in 2013 will be the construction of the Washington-Jefferson skate park. Watch for work to begin in
June. Other park projects coming in 2013: park access road repairs at Skinner Butte, Wild Iris Ridge, Hendricks Park and
Alton Baker Park, and a major renovation of the Spencer Butte Summit Trail.
To learn more about specific projects planned for 2013, visit www.eugene-or.gov/pwprojects or contact Pavement
Preservation Program Manager Jenifer Willer at 541-501-0376.
New Episode of ‘Working City’ Features City Robots
Robots are hard at work in Eugene, making the city safer by doing jobs that are dangerous or even impossible for humans.
The latest episode of “Working City” features three examples of operator-controlled devices that the City of Eugene uses to
increase efficiency, save tax dollars, and improve the quality of life in the
community.
The five-minute video looks at “sewer bots” that crawl through more than
1,300 miles of underground stormwater and wastewater lines, looking for
cracks, leaks, and other deficiencies in the public sewer system. The Police
Department’s “bomb robots” are used by the Metro Explosive Disposal Unit
to take care of tasks that would place a human officer in harm’s way or a
hazardous environment. City building inspectors use a tablet-controlled
“quadracopter” as a safe and time-efficient way to conduct inspections of
commercial building roofs and other commercial structures with the
owner’s approval.
To view the “Robots” video, go to www.youtube.com/user/CityofEugene/featured or check the online video page at
www.eugene-or.gov/videos.
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April 11, 2013