HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/10/13 - City Council Newsletter (2)
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
October 10, 2013
IN THIS EDITION
VOLUNTEERS WORK AND CELEBRATE AT 5 ANNUAL GREAT WILLAMETTE CLEAN-UP
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REVIEW OF EUGENE’S URBAN FORESTRY PROGRAM UNDER WAY
THOUSANDS ENJOY SUMMER READING AT EUGENE PUBLIC LIBRARY
EXERCISE WITH A DIFFERENT BEAT
METRO TV CHANNEL 21 RECEIVES GOVERNMENT PROGRAMMING AWARDS
MEETING WILL FOCUS ON UPDATING EUGENE’S PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE STRATEGIC PLAN
AROUND THE CITY
Volunteers Work and Celebrate at 5 Annual Great Willamette Clean-up
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More than 150 land- and water-based volunteers took time on Saturday, Oct. 5, to “Get Dirty for Good” by helping to clean
the urban stretch of the Willamette River from Clearwater Park in Springfield to the Beltline in Eugene.
Eugene Park Stewards partnered with Willamette Riverkeeper, REI,
City of Eugene Outdoor Program, University of Oregon (UO) Outdoor
Program, Sanipac and Willamalane Parks and Recreation to organize
this successful event. Volunteers from the community, HIV Alliance,
Willamette Kayak and Canoe Club, and the UO Duck Corps participated
in this regional project as part of a 191-mile effort stretching through
the entire Willamette Valley from Eugene/Springfield to Portland.
Local volunteer teams filled eight SHARPS containers and picked up
over 70 cubic yards of trash and debris from the Ruth Bascom
Riverbank Path and Willamette River. This year’s finds included a disco
ball, a stuffed frog weighing 40 pounds wet, a scorched cot, and some
inflatable pool toys (to go with the swimming pool volunteers pulled
out last year). Volunteers completed their day at Alton Baker Park in Eugene with a free catered lunch and celebration with
donated prizes and music. Master Recyclers attended the after-party to ensure a low-waste event. Music was provided by
Kingdom County and sponsored by Pedal Power Music.
For more information, please contact Eugene Park Stewards North Region Volunteer Coordinator Katie Blair-Terrazas at
541-682-4831 or Katie.a.blair@ci.eugene.or.us.
Review of Eugene’s Urban Forestry Program Under Way
About 80,000 trees line Eugene’s streets, providing shade, water and air
quality benefits, wildlife habitat and a scenic backdrop. Many thousands of
additional trees provide similar benefits in the city’s developed parks and
natural areas. Combined, these trees make up Eugene’s public urban forest,
cared for by the City’s urban forestry management programs in the Parks
and Open Space Division. With the goal of protecting and enhancing the
long-term health and vitality of this community asset, the urban forestry
management program removes hazard trees and limbs, coordinates
volunteer programs, works with developers to plant street trees, prunes
trees for traffic clearance and sign visibility, and performs emergency tree
removals and right-of-way clearing during storm events.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1
October 14, 2013
To optimize the urban forestry management programs, a review is currently under way, including interviews with key
internal and external partners and a community survey. Eugene’s urban forest provides an array of environmental, health,
economic and aesthetic benefits for the community that warrants careful thought and consideration. This review will help
provide direction for its management and stewardship over the coming decades.
To take the survey, visit www.eugene-or.gov/urbanforest. For more information, contact Park Operations Manager Kevin
Finney at 541-682-4809 or Kevin.P.Finney@ci.eugene.or.us.
Thousands Enjoy Summer Reading at Eugene Public Library
This year, thousands of community members benefitted from Summer Reading activities at the Eugene Public Library with
the theme “Dig into Reading!”
Over 6,800 children and more than 1,200 teens will start the school year stronger
this fall because they signed up for the Eugene Public Library’s Summer Reading
2013 at one of the Library’s three locations or at the United Way Summer Reading
Spot in Bethel, a designated Promise Neighborhood. Each youth got to choose a free
book to keep, courtesy of the Friends of Eugene Public Library, and they each set a
personal reading goal for the summer. Giving youth the power to set their own goals
increases their personal commitment, which strengthens the value of following
through on something that is important to them.
To further engage youth with reading and learning, the Library offered hands-on
activities at all locations, drawing about 4,000 kids and teens. From music to magic
and art to science, young people explored a wide variety of topics and cultures. Also, during the summer the Library
continued to offer weekly storytimes; 12 sessions a week, individually designed to meet the pre-literacy developmental
needs of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. More than 6,300 young children and their grown-ups attended storytimes this
summer.
Eugene’s adults were great role models for youth, making the most of their own Summer Reading choices and activities.
Over 900 signed up for the adult Summer Reading program; Adult Summer Readers received Friends of Eugene Public
Library book bags, plus coupons for Novella Café and the Friends’ bookstore, Second Hand Prose. Fifty adults shared book
reviews online at the Library’s website, and a variety of author talks, workshops, and concerts were attended by 1,800
people.
The Eugene Public Library’s annual Summer Reading program is fun for all ages – and it’s important to the community’s
well-being. While local kids were having a good time enjoying stories, creating art, experimenting with science, and playing
games at the Library, they were also fighting back the “summer slump.” That’s the educational term for the predictable
drop in knowledge and skills that students experience between the end of one school year and the start of the next. Also
known as “summer learning loss” and “summer set-back,” this phenomenon has been studied since 1906. Research shows
that over summer break, the average student loses up to one month’s worth of progress, if they do not stay actively
engaged with reading.
The Library appreciates everyone who participated in Summer Reading 2013, and thanks the community partners whose
support helped make it possible: dozens of Library volunteers, the Friends of Eugene Public Library, Eugene Public Library
Foundation, United Way of Lane County, and Novella Café. For more information, visit www.eugene-or.gov/library or call
the Eugene Public Library at 541-682-5450.
Exercise with a Different Beat
Zumba, line dancing, and bike riding are just three of the not-so-typical fitness classes
offered by the Recreation Division all year. The division’s land fitness activities are
featured on the Working City program airing on Metro Television throughout October.
Many of Recreation’s land fitness classes are for participants age 18 or older – when many
become less active. According to the Surgeon General, this inactivity causes millions of
Americans to suffer from life-threatening diseases such as cardiovascular disease, high
blood pressure, adult-onset Type II diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis-related hip fracture, and
obesity. The report also says many health issues can be prevented or the symptoms
improved through increased physical activity. It doesn’t take much to get the benefit – just
30 minutes of brisk walking every day has been shown to have positive effects.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2
October 14, 2013
Fitness activities provided by the Recreation Division range from strenuous workouts, such as Zumba, which is an aerobic
exercise done to a salsa beat, to line dancing, a mental as well as physical exercise. Many of the fitness classes are adapted
for individuals experiencing arthritis, multiple sclerosis, or other movement issues.
For those who are looking for fun in their fitness workout, Recreation offers dance classes including ballet, belly, tap, folk,
line and hula-hoop dancing. Recreation’s martial arts classes, including Aikido, fencing, tai chi, and yoga, provide a good
workout and improve balance and flexibility.
For more information, check out the Adult Health and Fitness section of the Recreation Guide or contact Library,
Recreation and Cultural Services Marketing and Public Information Manager Kathy Madison at 541-682-6342.
Metro TV Channel 21 Receives Government Programming Awards
The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA)
honored the winners of the 28th Annual Government Programming Awards (GPA)
Sept. 19 at its national conference in Orlando, Florida. The awards program honors
excellence in broadcast, cable, multimedia and electronic programming produced by
local governments. Here in Eugene, community cable TV programming is an
effective means of reaching cable audiences on a wide range of local issues via
channels provided through a contract with Comcast TV related to its long-term use
of the public rights-of-way.
Eugene’s Telecommunications Program nominated six videos about City operations produced by Metro TV (Channel 21).
Of those, three placed in award categories: The Working City video “The Big Read” received a Third Place Medallion, in the
Library category. Two other programs, “First Fridays at the Library” and “Eugene
Budget Committee” each received an Honorable Mention certificate. There were
670 entries in all categories, nationwide.
Watch “The Big Read” at http://vimeo.com/42726298, and“First Fridays” at
http://vimeo.com/57003575 (Budget Committee meetings are aired in their
entirety - the 10-minute clip submission is not encoded into a separate video link).
For additional information about these awards or videos, please contact
Telecommunications Program Manager Pam Berrian at 541-682-5590, or Robert
Lewis, Metro TV, at 541-682-3799.
Meeting Will Focus on Updating Eugene’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Strategic Plan
It is time to update Eugene’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Strategic Plan, and community engagement is an important part of the
process. The City of Eugene and its Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) will host a community meeting to
update the five-year strategic plan adopted in 2008. The meeting will be held Thursday, Oct. 17, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in
the Bascom/Tykeson Room at the Eugene Public Library.
The meeting will use interactive discussions to identify strategies for making the community a better place for people to
walk and ride a bike. The strategic plan focuses on programming initiatives related to education, encouragement,
evaluation and enforcement. It is a companion document to the Pedestrian & Bicycle Master Plan accepted in 2011, which
addresses infrastructure-related needs.
This important community meeting will help establish a work plan for City staff and BPAC over the next three years. For
those who cannot attend this meeting, additional opportunities to submit input will be provided later in the year.
For more information, contact Lindsay Selser, transportation options coordinator, at lindsay.r.selser@ci.eugene.or.us or
541-682-5094.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3
October 14, 2013