HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/23/13 - 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
May 23, 2013
IN THIS EDITION
CRAIG CARNAGEY HIRED AS NEW PARKS AND OPEN SPACE DIRECTOR
WEST EUGENE EMX EXTENSION BEGINS ENGINEERING PHASE
13TH AVENUE RENAISSANCE OPEN HOUSE LOOKS AT CONNECTING CAMPUS TO DOWNTOWN EUGENE
DOWNLOAD MUSIC AT EUGENE PUBLIC LIBRARY WEBSITE – FREE AND LEGAL
AMAZON POOL OPENS TO LAP SWIMMERS
EUGENE POLICE DEPARTMENT’S WOMEN IN BLUE COURSE
AROUND THE CITY
Craig Carnagey Hired as New Parks and Open Space Director
Craig Carnagey, who currently serves as the Parks and Facilities Manager for the City of Albany, has been selected as the
new Parks and Open Space Division Director in Public Works. The decision announced by Public Works Director Kurt
Corey, follows a nationwide recruitment that drew more than 90 applicants.
“I have found Craig to be an enthusiastic and passionate advocate of all the services we
provide, and I look forward to the perspective he will bring to his new role,” Corey said
in announcing Carnagey’s appointment to the position previously held by Johnny
Medlin, who retired in 2012.
“I know our parks are the heart of what makes Eugene a great place to live and play,”
said Carnagey. “That was a reason I moved my family back here last summer. We spend
a lot of time at soccer games, volleyball practices, hiking, swimming and paddling,
biking around town, gardening, and yoga.”
Carnagey is a graduate of the University of Oregon with a master’s degree in landscape
architecture and brings more than 10 years of parks operations and management
experience to the position.
Both Corey and Carnagey spoke highly of the Parks and Open Space staff, many of
whom participated in the selection process.
POS Director Craig Carnagey
“My desire has been to identify someone who understands and appreciates the operation and mission and many facets of
the Parks and Open Space Division and who demonstrates a high level of enthusiasm and passion for the job,” Corey said. “I
also looked for evidence of excellent communications and leadership skills, someone with a focus on both internal and
external relationships, and someone with the patience and determination to continue working through our fiscal
challenges. And ultimately, I looked for someone who in my estimation would be the best fit for our diverse and talented
workplace.”
Corey also acknowledged the efforts and service of Mark Schoening, who served as interim POS director, and Matt
Rodrigues, who filled in as AIC City Engineer for the past year.
“I look forward to working with the exceptional staff who make up the Parks and Open Space Division, as well as the
community members who volunteer their time to make our parks shine,” Carnagey said. “It will be an honor to work for the
City in this position, and I intend to work hard to help the organization continue to meet the needs of all its residents, while
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1
May 23, 2013
.Hilyard
preparing the division to meet the unknown challenges it will surely face in the future. We have a lot of great work to build
upon, and I am optimistic about the future of Eugene Parks and Open Spaces.”
Carnagey is scheduled to start July 1. For more information, contact Kurt Corey at 541-682-8421.
West Eugene EmX Extension Begins Engineering Phase
The engineering phase of the EmX transit extension to west Eugene has begun. During the first few months of the
engineering phase, the public may see surveyors and other technical crews gathering engineering information along the
route. The result will be a refined project design based on the
environmental assessment completed last year and new
conversations with property owners and businesses along the
route. The engineering phase is expected to continue through
next winter. Construction will occur by 2016. LTD will provide
updates if the schedule changes as a result of the engineering
work.
The City is partnering with Lane Transit District (LTD) to help
with public outreach, minimize the impacts of construction, and
support businesses during construction. LTD launched this
phase of the project with a mailing to residents and businesses
located within one-half mile of the West Eugene EmX route, and
to owners of property located within one block of the route. A
website created for this project (weemx.ltd.org) now contains a blog that will be updated every two weeks and an
opportunity to sign up for e-mailed project updates.
Beginning in early June, project staff will meet individually with property and business owners affected by road widening
and new EmX stations to answer questions, consider design refinements, and discuss ways to alleviate hardships that may
occur during the future construction phase.
LTD selected Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) to provide the engineering services for the West Eugene EmX project. The PB team
includes many local companies including Balzhiser and Hubbard Engineers, Cameron McCarthy Landscape Architecture
and Planning, Cogito Public Involvement and Strategic Planning Services, PIVOT Architecture, and Sperry Tree Care.
EmX provides fast, frequent, and easy transit service with convenient one-seat rides, level boarding, multiple doors on both
sides, bikes on board, covered shelters, real-time passenger information, and fare vending machines. Once completed, this
project will add 8.8 new round-trip miles of EmX service along West 6, 7, and 11 avenues. EmX will serve stations
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every 10 minutes on weekdays, and every 15 to 30 minutes during evenings and weekends. Improvements to transit time
reliability will reduce operating costs for the future.
Questions about the West Eugene EmX project may be directed to John Evans at LTD at 541-682-6146 or
John.Evans@ltd.org, or Kurt Yeiter, senior transportation planner at 541-682-8379 or kurt.m.yeiter@ci.eugene.or.us.
13th Avenue Renaissance Open House Looks at Connecting
Campus to Downtown Eugene
University of Oregon (UO) students, as part of an interdisciplinary
organization called LiveMove ByDesign, have spent the 2012-2013 academic
year conducting a corridor study for the “Downtown-Campus Corridor”
(13 Avenue), and have developed a preferred roadway redesign through
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extensive observation of transportation behavior, parking utilization, and
case studies.
LiveMove will unveil its findings and innovative designs at an open house on
Tuesday, May 27, at Lawrence Hall, Room 206, on the UO campus. The
session runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and is open to the public. Attendees will
Graphic rendering shows two-way bikeway on 13
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have an opportunity to give feedback and input, and initiate community
between Alder and Hilyard.
discussion on improving the corridor’s safety, accessibility and livability,
while also stimulating economic activity and achieving City and university sustainability goals.
For more information, contact Reed Dunbar, associate transportation planner, at 541-682-5727.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2
May 23, 2013
Download Music at Eugene Public Library Website – Free and Legal
Great news for music-lovers: Eugene Public Library’s music download service, Freegal, has expanded to include literally
millions of songs.
Freegal (“free and legal”) is similar to iTunes, except the songs are free of charge with a
Eugene Public Library card. Freegal offers millions of songs including current hits, classics,
and every type of music from Ke$ha to Springsteen, Brubeck to Beethoven. New songs are
added daily.
Library cardholders can visit the Eugene Public Library website to download music from
Freegal all day, every day. Each cardholder can download three songs per week. Once the
MP3s are downloaded, they can be kept forever. The songs never need to be returned and they never expire.
For more information, contact the Eugene Public Library at 541-682-5450 or www.eugene-or.gov/library.
Amazon Pool Opens to Lap Swimmers
Easily Eugene’s most popular summer spot – Amazon Pool – opened on May 20 to the rhythmic sound of lap swimmers
stroking their way across the water. It will be quite different a few weeks from now when Amazon opens for recreational
swims and more than a thousand youngsters and their parents come to
splash, slide, jump and dive into the refreshing water.
Of course, Eugene’s other two pools are also very popular during the
summer months, and offer the same variety of recreation swims, lap
swimming, water fitness, and swim lessons all year long. But Amazon, with
its water slide, two pools, kids’ zero-depth spray-play feature and sand
play area, a five-meter diving platform, three-meter diving board, and two
one-meter diving boards, has it all.
An oasis during the hot summer months, Amazon regularly generates
more than 200,000 visits during its short, May-November season. Once the
weather is warm enough and the pool opens for recreational swims on
June 21, the Amazon website will quickly outpace even the City Library in the number of browser searches on the City’s
website by eager fans looking for the schedule for recreation swims, swim lessons, water fitness classes, lap swim times
and more.
In the meantime, hearty lap swimmers, water polo players and life guards learning the ropes, have the pool all to
themselves. For more information, call Rich Fay at 541-682-6336.
Eugene Police Department’s Women in Blue Course
On Saturday, May 18, Eugene Police Department’s (EPD) Women in Blue Police participants gained confidence and insight
into police jobs as they ‘covered’ EPD officers during live scenarios on the final day of a seven-week training course.
EPD’s new, free course - specially designed for women
interested in law enforcement careers with EPD - provided
participants with an opportunity to experience several facets
of the profession in a highly energetic, empowering course
designed to build character and leadership skills as well as
instill confidence in the participants regarding their ability
and aptitude to be successful in the field of law enforcement.
The course was designed to assist in areas of the application
process for Eugene police officers.
Topics included in the sessions included:
Defensive Tactics
Firearms
Emergency Vehicle Operations
Reality-Based Scenario Training
Special Weapons and Tactics
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3
May 23, 2013
Explosive Device Units
Crime Scene Investigations and Scenarios
ROPES –Outdoor Challenge Course
Oral Interview Presentations and Practice Sessions
Police Physical Agility Testing Practices and Individualized Fitness Programs
Eugene Police Department Ride-alongs
One of the Eugene Police Department’s strategic goals is to recruit, retain and develop a highly capable and professional
work force. The Women in Blue course ran for seven seeks and was created to maximize the opportunity for qualified
applicants who have the interest, aptitude and personal mettle to be successful Eugene Police Department law enforcement
professionals. There were 20 qualified female applicants, age 20 and above, in this signature course that ran from April 2
through May 18, on Tuesday evenings from 6 - 9 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
For more information, contact Officer Cheryl Joyner at 541-682-2753.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 4
May 23, 2013