HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Newsletter - 04/13/06
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER
April 13, 2006
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
EUGENE NAMED AMERICA’S #1 GREEN CITY
PUBLIC WORKS PRINCIPAL ENGINEER NAMED MANAGER OF THE YEAR BY APWA
SKI PROGRAM CREATES KINGS OF THE MOUNTAIN
REDUCING SOAPY COCKTAILS IN LOCAL WATERWAYS HIGHLIGHTED IN NEWSLETTER
“GRANT US PEACE” READING AT EUGENE PUBLIC LIBRARY
CREST DRIVE COMMUNITY TEAM MOVES AHEAD ON AGREEMENT BUILDING PROCESS
CHOCTAW STORYTELLER TIM TINGLE AT EUGENE PUBLIC LIBRARY
ARBOR DAY BRINGS PEOPLE AND TREES TOGETHER
RIVERPLAY “BUY A BRICK” HOMERUN CAMPAIGN A SUCCESS
AROUND THE CITY
Eugene Named America's #1 Green City
The Green Guide, a respected consumer resource for green living, has named Eugene as the top Green
City in the U.S. Mayor Kitty Piercy announced the recognition on Monday, April 10, in Alton Baker Park,
with Councilor Gary Papé and staff present to help celebrate. Mayor Kitty Piercy chose the location to
illustrate some of the characteristics that make Eugene a great, green city – the extensive parks and
recreation system, open spaces and natural areas, award-winning bike trail system including the DeFazio
Bike Bridge, green building efforts such as those employed in the new federal courthouse project,
EWEB’s sustainable energy programs, and the beautiful Willamette River flowing through the center of
the city.
Each year, the Green Guide recognizes cities across the country that are providing the healthiest, most
environmentally-conscious, energy-efficient, and least-polluting environments in which to live. This year,
the organization put Eugene at the top of the list of U.S. cities with the best environmental practices. For
the study, the organization surveyed the 251 metropolitan areas in the U.S. with populations of 100,000
or more, evaluating them on the following criteria: environmental policy, environmental perspective,
green design, green space, public health, air quality, electricity use and production, recycling, water
quality, socioeconomic factors, and transportation. Survey responses were considered in combination
with information from the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Green Building Council and other
independent sources to determine the top Green Cities rankings.
In her remarks, Mayor Piercy highlighted a number of the city’s efforts and accomplishments in
sustainable practices and also credited the contributions of other government partners, including the
Eugene Water and Electric Board and Lane Transit District, as well as volunteers, residents and
businesses as essential to Eugene’s success in being designated the top Green City. In particular,
EWEB’s energy conservation and renewable energy programs were considered in The Green Guide’s
rating.
“Eugene has worked for years, and continues to work hard on environmental stewardship because we
know it is the right thing to do for the future, and because it is a strongly held value in our community,”
said Mayor Piercy. “I am as proud and pleased as I can be that our beautiful city and all our
collaborative efforts are being acknowledged in this way. We are ‘Green Eugene’ – the best, the
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April 14, 2006
healthiest, the most beautiful, the most livable city in America - the World's Greatest City for the Arts and
Outdoors!”
For more information about the Green Guide, visit http://www.thegreenguide.com/. For more information
regarding Mayor Piercy’s presentation, please contact, Jan Bohman, City Manger’s Office, 682-5587.
Public Works Principal Engineer Named Manager of the Year by APWA
Paul Klope, a principal engineer for the City of Eugene’s Public Works
Department, has been named Engineering/Technology Professional
Manager of the Year by the American Public Works Association (APWA).
The national award recognizes the outstanding career service achievements
of engineering and technology professionals. Individual candidates must be
APWA members with a minimum of 10 years experience whose primary
responsibility is public works engineering and technology management.
Klope joined Public Works staff in 1987. Currently, he oversees a project
team comprised of 15 engineering professionals responsible for designing
and constructing major infrastructure improvements. Throughout his
career, Klope has had a strong interest in ensuring that contract
specifications for capital improvement projects are clear and objective and
serve all parties to public improvement contracts. He helped lead an effort
to develop standard specifications for state and local public works agencies. Klope also has been a
leader in incorporating innovative methods and products into construction projects, including the use of
concrete overlays on asphalt bike paths and pervious concrete and asphalt surfaces to manage
stormwater runoff in parking areas.
Klope mentors eight college students through the Civil Engineering Cooperative Program in collaboration
with Oregon State University, and he currently serves on APWA’s National Education Committee. Last
fall, Klope received the William A. Bowes Service Award, the highest award given by the Oregon
Chapter of APWA for distinguished service to the chapter and its members.
“The award of professional manager of the year truly recognizes Paul’s many accomplishments over the
course of his career,” says Mark Schoening, Eugene city engineer and Klope’s supervisor. “I couldn’t be
more proud.” For more information about the award, contact Mark Schoening at 682-5243.
Ski Program Creates Kings of the Mountain
Recreation Services offers the all-volunteer Alpine Adventures Adaptive Ski Program to anyone between
the ages of 8 and 85, with any type of physical disability, who wants to learn how to ski, or improve their
adaptive-skiing skills. According to River House Outdoor Programmer Kellie Nemke, participants include
people who are blind, have spinal-cord injuries or have lost limbs. The program, which began in 1975
and is based out of the River House and Hoodoo Ski Resort, began in January with the first of the nine-
week sessions. The cost— $150 for Eugene residents—includes transportation from Eugene, use of
specialized equipment, lift tickets and ski instruction. Some scholarships are available. In addition to
volunteer hours, fees, and tax revenues from Eugene, the program relies heavily on sponsors.
John Morgan, 53, his sons Matthew and Erik, and their
friend K.C. Gale, haven’t missed a day of the session for
eight years. Matthew (22) and Erik (25) have cerebral palsy
and other disabilities that make a trip to the slopes a major
adventure. K.C. (22), who suffered a traumatic brain injury
when he was 3, has been in the program since he was 10.
He wears leg braces to help him walk but is able to shed
them when he skis. All three have issues with balance and
coordination.
Alpine Adventures uses trained volunteers, some of whom
have skied all their lives, Nemke said. They get injured, sometimes as a result of a skiing accident, and
experience some form of disability. About 35 volunteers log an average of 1,500 hours per year to
provide skiing instruction for up to 20 members. Because of limited equipment, only 10 skiers can go up
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April 14, 2006
each day, and as many as 20 volunteers are required to get them on the slopes. Chuck Shepard,
president and CEO of Hoodoo Mountain Resort, donates lift tickets and space for the program to store its
highly-specialized, expensive equipment. The Morgans bought a set of skis for each son in late 2003,
freeing up the program's equipment for other skiers. "There is nothing like going down a black diamond
at top speed," said John, and apparently Matthew, Erik and K.C. share John’s passion for skiing. When
asked who his favorite skier is, Matthew replied, "My dad."
For more information, contact Recreation Programmer Kellie Nemke at 682-6324 or 682-5311 (V/TTY),
or go to Statesman Journal.com and follow links to Alpine Adventures.
Reducing Soapy Cocktails In Local Waterways Highlighted In Newsletter
If fish could talk, they’d be among the first to protest
the soapy cocktails from car washing activities or any
other pollutants that empty into area rivers. Storm
drains may remove pollutants from view, but the
problems linger on as detailed in articles in the
spring issue of Stormwater Connections due out
Monday, April 17, as an insert in the The Register-
Guard.
There’s plenty more to read about. Learn the big
buzz on java in the garden. There is something to
be said about the healthy pick-me-up that a healthy
dose of coffee grounds can supply. You’ll also find a
brief summary about two upcoming events that lend
a focus to sustainability – an Earth Day celebration
on April 22 and an open house at the city’s newest native plant nursery. The centerpiece, “Planters with
a Purpose,” offers tips on blending design and function to improve water quality in landscapes.
Educating and informing community members about stormwater pollution and ways to protect local
waterways is a best management practice in the City’s Stormwater Management Plan. Articles in
Stormwater Connections typically address seasonal or current issues and cover at least one subject of
interest to younger citizens.
Information provided in the semi-annual newsletter has been produced by the Stormwater Management
Program since 1994 to increase awareness of surface water and natural resource issues in the
community. Copies of the newsletter have been placed in the Council Office. For more information or
additional copies of the newsletter contact Kathy Eva, public information specialist for the Stormwater
Management Program at 682-2739.
“Grant Us Peace” Reading at Eugene Public Library
Five of the 20 local poets whose work was chosen for Grant Us Peace (Dona Nobis Pacem), Lane
Literary Guild’s new chapbook of poems of peace and hope, will read their works on Tuesday, April 18, 7
p.m., at the Downtown Eugene Public Library. Admission is free and free copies of the chapbook will be
available.
The readers include:
?
Deb Casey is a visual artist and works with non-traditional University of Oregon students in
addition to writing widely published poety. She has been awarded a National Endowment for the
Arts grant for poetry and the Bernice Slote Poetry Award from Prairie Schooner.
?
Michael Hanner returns to poetry after a 30-year career as an architect. His principal themes are
love, family, loss, and remembrance, often with a twist of surrealism.
?
Madronna Holden’s work evokes connections among mystery, healing, and the natural world. A
professional storyteller, she wrote the text for the collaborative theater piece The Descent of
Inanna, and teaches at Linfield College and Oregon State University.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3
April 14, 2006
?
Colette Jonopulos is co-editor of Tiger’s Eye: A Journal of Poetry, as well as the author of two
nonfiction books, The One Thing Needful and Living Waters for a Parched Land.
?
Charles F. Thielman has been involved in the peace movement since 1968, and is honing a
book-length manuscript under the working title "writing upright outside the lost and found.”
The chapbook was created in collaboration with the Eugene Concert Choir’s performance on April 22.
The choir, along with two professional soloists and the Oregon Mozart Players, expanded to symphonic
size, sends a message of peace and hope. The featured work will be Ralph Vaughan Williams' moving
choral masterpiece Dona Nobis Pacem, written in the mid-1930s as a warning against the rising drums of
war in Europe. The text employs poems by Walt Whitman and John Bright, as well as passages from the
Bible. Also featured will be Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms, Rachmaninoff's Vocalise and Robert Kyr's
"Voices for Peace." This concert is supported by the Hult Endowment and is the culmination of a week-
long "Festival of Peace."
Grant Us Peace closes the Windfall Reading Series for this year. The series is co-sponsored by the
Eugene Public Library and Lane Literary Guild, and will begin its next season in September. For more
information, contact the Eugene Public Library at 682-5450.
Crest Drive Community Team Moves Ahead on Agreement-Building Process
The Crest Drive Community Team (CDCT) concluded its
third planned process training workshop on April 6.
Volunteer facilitators Josh Reckord and Bill Kentta led
the participants through a group agreement-building
process that will frame the decision-making, public
involvement, and design development process for street
improvements in the Crest Drive neighborhood. A draft
group agreement has been developed, focusing on group
process elements surrounding CDCT decision-making,
communication, and meeting parameters.
A subcommittee of the CDCT comprised of residents,
neighborhood group leaders and a city staff person
conducted a selection process for a facilitator who can
lead the group through the project development, public outreach, and design process. Margot Helphand
of Helphand & Associates has been selected, and will facilitate the first CDCT “context sensitive
solutions” meeting scheduled for April 20. For more information, contact Lisa Gardner, senior
transportation planner, at 682-5378.
Choctaw Storyteller Tim Tingle at Eugene Public Library
Award-winning storyteller and author Tim Tingle shares the lore of his people through lively historical,
traditional, and personal tales on Saturday, April 22, 2 – 3 p.m at the Downtown Library. An enrolled
member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Tingle delights audiences of elementary-school kids,
teens, and adults alike. His tales are interwoven with music as he chants, sings hymns in Choctaw, and
plays Native American flute, gourd rattles, and deer and whale skin
drums.
Tingle spent two decades collecting Native American tales, and has
amassed an extensive collection of recordings of older tribal members
telling their stories. His books include Walking The Choctaw Road
and Texas Ghost Stories: Fifty Favorites For The Telling, and
Crossing Bok Chitto, a historically based, illustrated children’s book,
about a Choctaw girl who aids an escaping slave family.
In addition to working a vigorous schedule of folklore and storytelling
festivals across America, Tingle performs at over 100 schools
annually. He has been invited for three years to perform a traditional
Choctaw story before Chief Gregory Pyle's Annual State of the Nation
Address at the tribal gathering in Tushkahoma, Oklahoma, a Choctaw
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April 14, 2006
reunion that attracts over 30,000 people. Tingle was selected “Contemporary Storyteller of the Year for
2001” by the Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers. He was featured at the 2002
National Storytelling Festival and was honored with the National Storytelling Network's Oracle Award for
leadership and service in 2003. Tingle holds a Master's Degree in English from the University of
Oklahoma, where he focused on Native American Literature. For more information, call the Eugene
Public Library at 682-5450.
Arbor Day Brings People and Trees Together
On Saturday, April 8, community members
including City Councilor Gary Papé, local
business owner John Hirons, Eugene Tree
Foundation (ETF) President Alby Thoumsin,
newly elected Planning Commissioner Phil
Carroll, Mark Pangborn of Lane Transit
District, and children from the YMCA’s After
School Care Program gathered in
celebration of Arbor Day. Mayor Kitty Piercy
accepted Eugene’s 27th consecutive Tree
City USA award from Rick Rogers, District
Forester for the Oregon Department of
Forestry (ODF). Tree City USA, a program of
the National Arbor Day Foundation
sponsored by ODF, recognizes cities that
have developed programs that plant and
care for trees.
Following the event, crews got busy planting trees and native plants. In this “Trees for Concrete” project,
organized by the City of Eugene’s NeighborWoods program and its community partner, ETF, 38 tons of
concrete were replaced by trees and native plants. In total, four new London plane trees and hundreds
th
of native plants were planted at Franklin and Orchard, six red oaks were planted at Charnelton and 17
nd
Avenue, and five shumardi oaks were put into planting pits at 2 Avenue and Mill Street.
Arbor Day is America's national tree holiday, a day set aside to plant ceremonial trees, educate children
about the importance of trees, and honor the important role trees play in the daily lives of people in
communities across the country. For more information contact Urban Forester Mark Snyder at 682-
4819.
RiverPlay “Buy a Brick” Homerun Campaign a Success
In the final few days of the RiverPlay “Buy a Brick” campaign, more than 150 community members
quickly purchased the last of the 1,000 bricks that will line the entry to the new playground. The majority
of bricks were purchased in memory or in honor of children, parents, and friends. Each holds its own
story and will create a permanent testament to the community’s efforts to make this playground a reality.
To date, the “One Brick at a Time” campaign has raised over $97,000 of the $100,000 goal. With the
help of the Downtown Rotary Club, a total of over $440,000 has been raised through local individuals,
businesses, and granting agencies. On Saturday, July 8, the RiverPlay Discovery Village at Skinner
Butte Park will officially open to the public. The community will be invited to an afternoon of ribbon
cutting, dedications, games, prizes, music, food, and much more. For more information contact the
RiverPlay Hotline at 682-4907 or carrie.a.peterson@ci.eugene.or.us.
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