From the editor
A rainy week with lots going on. At the Association’sboard meeting this week we discussed plans for the future. We designed a tentative schedule of topics for our gatherings over the next few months. We hope that the topics may interest you.
February – no general meeting
March 15 – a city discussion of the state of Eugene’s parks
April 19 – our spring gardening event, and more about CERT emergency response teams
May 17 – discussing how to resolve disputes among neighbors, and how and when to file complaints with the city
June 21 – defending your property against wildfires
July – no general meeting
August 9 – our annual summer potluck picnic and play time
General meetings are held in the house at Morse Family Farm Park on Crest Drive, the third Sunday of the month from 2 to 4 PM.
Note, though, that the annual picnic will be on the *second* Sunday of August.
Board meetings are usually held at the Market of Choice on 29th Ave., on the upstairs balcony, 7pm. Board meetings are eagerly open to anyone with concerns to express.
We hope this year to sponsor the formation of smaller groups for emergency preparedness and getting to know your neighbors. At least two are already at work within our area but every few blocks would benefit from forming one of these groups. You’ll be hearing more about this in the coming weeks.
Another hope we have for this year is more participation from all parts of our area. We need more board members from south of 39th, and from McLean and Chambers to City View. We hope some of you might help your neighbors by voicing their concerns on our board
Coming events
The emergency preparedness and CERT exercises this month will be going ahead. We noted these last week but thought it was worth repeating them for emphasis. More new events are listed below.
1) Neighborhood Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Workshop
Talk about improving communication in the event of a disaster as well as during “normal” times and share ideas for using the CERT program to its fullest extent across our neighborhood.
Neighborhood maps and city maps will be available.
Anyone interested in emergency preparedness and safety response in S Eugene is welcome.
• DATE: 2/19/2015 (Thu 5:30PM – 7:30PM)
• LOCATION: Hilyard Community Center, 2580 Hilyard Street
•
For more info and to RSVP, go to http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0e49abab23a7fe3-southeast
2) Wildfire Exercise
What if the South Hills caught fire..?
A team of national, regional, state and local agencies and organizations have undertaken an effort to help communities assess their capability to prepare for, respond to and recover from a variety of natural disasters through a series of disaster exercises facilitated via the internet entitled “Formidable Footprint”.
Southeast Neighbors will be hosting a neighborhood wildfire exercise on Saturday, February 28 from 10am to 1pm at the Hilyard Center at 2580 Hilyard St.
This program is free for all participants but pre-registration is required. There are several important reasons to register: Preparing for emergencies is everybody’s business but we tend to put it off. There will be an event at the end of February which might be of use to you.
Prior to the exercise important situational awareness materials will be e-mailed to all registered participants.
Each participant in the exercise will be required to submit an evaluation after the exercise has ended.
Individual exercise Certificates of Participation will only be generated for registered participants.
To register for the exercise, go to
http://www.onxsystem.com/?q=onx/ex/2431.
Location Information
Hilyard Community Center is located in south Eugene at 2580 Hilyard Street across the parking lot from Amazon Pool. Hilyard Community Center houses the City of Eugene’s Adaptive Recreation Program and was designed for maximum accessibility including: wheelchair accessible bathrooms, full kitchen, FM loop systems, large raised print signs and easy access to the outdoors.
Fun event
Oregon Asian Festival
February 14-15, Lane Events Center
Bring family, friends, and loved-ones to the two-day Asian cultural heritage festival, the Oregon Asian Celebration, on Feb. 14 and 15, at the Lane Events Center. Enjoy cultural performances, music, fine art, children and youth activities, as well as demonstrations of crafts, cooking, and martial arts.
Celebrate Valentines’ weekend with special activities such as the canoodle-noodle eating contest and more. Visitors can tempt their taste buds with exotic and traditional cuisine of different Asian countries, and spend time strolling through the Asian Marketplace for special souvenirs, trinkets, and keepsakes.
The doors at the Lane Events Center open at 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 14 and 15, and close at 7 p.m. on Saturday, and 6 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $6 for one day; $10 for two days; and free for children ages 12 and under. Tickets are available for pre-sale at all Oregon Community Credit Union branch locations or at the door on event day. The event is produced by the Eugene-Springfield Asian Council. For an up-to-date schedule of activities and events, visit http://www.AsianCelebration.org.
Beat back the invading monsters
Ivy Pulling Extravaganza at Hendricks Park
Monday, February 16
Join Friends of Hendricks Park and Eugene Park Stewards on Presidents’ Day to fight against ivy invaders!
Join Friends of Hendricks Park and Eugene Park Stewards on Presidents’ Day to fight against ivy invaders! Pulling ivy is vigorous work, but as George Washington once said, “The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.” Help us be triumphant! Tools, gloves and snacks will be provided. Dress in sturdy shoes and clothes that can get dirty. Contact Mieko at mieko.e.aoki@ci.eugene.or.us or 541-510-4636 to RSVP or for more information.
City notes: The city is seeking input for future plans.
1) We received this note from Envision Eugene about the revised calculations about housing expansion. (A mistake was discovered in the data used for the original calculations.).
Things are moving along on the update to the UGB Recommendation for housing. As you may recall, staff and community members are analyzing information raised through the Technical Resource Group over the last month or so. The information relates to the capacity of land in Eugene’s south hills to accommodate single family housing. While the numbers are still being finalized, it is likely that Eugene’s expansion need for single family housing will decrease and we want to be sure to give you advance notice of public meetings where we plan to walk through the updated results. The tentative meeting dates include:
* February 18th City Council Work Session on UGB housing recommendation at Harris Hall, 125 E. 8thAve., 12:00 noon
* February 19th Community Open House on UGB housing recommendation at the Atrium, 99 W. 10th Ave., 4-6 pm
* February 23rd Planning Commission update on UGB housing recommendation in the Atrium Sloat Room, 11:30 am
* February 23rd City Council Public Forum on UGB housing recommendation at Harris Hall, 7:30 pm
* February 25th City Council Direction on UGB housing recommendation at Harris Hall, 12:00 noon
2) Capital Improvement Plan Update
Find out about the projects being planned in your neighborhood!
The Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) outlines plans for improvement and construction in parks, transportation (pedestrian, bike, and auto), and City-owned facilities such as community centers.
On Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 5:30 p.m., the Eugene Budget Committee will meet in the Bascom-Tykeson Room in the
Downtown Public Library, 100 West 10th Avenue, to discuss the Draft Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for fiscal years
2016 through 2021 (FY16-21). The CIP provides a six-year funding plan for the City’s capital improvements, including
transportation, airport, public buildings, parks and open space, stormwater and wastewater projects. The CIP also
documents unfunded capital needs over the next six years.
At the meeting on Feb. 11, the Budget Committee will provide an opportunity for the public to comment on the Draft CIP
and will formulate its recommendation to the City Council. The Draft FY16-21 CIP is available for public review online at
http://www.eugene-or.gov/CIP. Hard copies of the draft CIP document are also available for public review at the Downtown
Public Library reference desk, 100 W 10th Avenue, 2nd floor; Eugene Finance Division, 100 W 10th Avenue, 4th floor; and the
City Manager’s Office, 125 East 8th Avenue, 2nd floor.
Members of the public are encouraged to provide feedback on the capital projects proposed in the Draft CIP by
commenting at the Budget Committee meeting or via the comment form on the Budget web site
The Budget Committee meeting on Feb. 11 will be broadcast on Metro TV, and a webcast will be available at
http://www.eugene-or.gov/webcasts.
Here are two items important for transportation and recreation, repeated from last week:
LTD Proposes New Routes
Participate in the Annual Route Review
LTD has put together a package that addresses our communities desire to run the buses more often, earlier and later, or to increase coverage to more areas. Please take a minute to review the plan and add your comments!
Take the Survey! Go to LTD.org and click on the survey to submit your comments on the proposed changes.
Or attend an Open House and weigh in:
Open Houses:
Customer Service Center Lobby
February 11 & 12
7:00 – 9:00 a.m.
3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Or attend LTD Board Public Hearings:
March 18, 5:30 p.m. -Eugene Library/Bascom-Tykeson Room
April 6, 5:30 p.m. – Eugene Library/Bascom-Tykeson Room
Of course you can always send your comments to LTD@LTD.org or call LTD at 541-682-6100
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Eugene Trail Plan – Update
Draft Plan Map and Guidelines will be based on your feedback!
A year ago the City of Eugene Parks and Open Space Division held a kick-off meeting for the Eugene Trails Plan – a plan to help guide and coordinate Eugene Parks and Open Space decisions about soft-surface trails. After a hiatus due to a number of factors including limited staffing resources and focus on implementing new trail construction efforts, this winter the project has kicked back into gear:
• A consultant has been hired to assist, Jeff Krueger of JK Environments;
• A second survey is being conducted by Oregon State University, http://oregonstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bg3yCuvaSQPOA0l
• A draft plan map and guidelines are being prepared based on input from citizens, local trail advocates and organizations, and city staff;
• The second public meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, February 26th, 6-8PM. Meeting details will be shared in a follow up email soon, but please set aside that time and date if possible so you’ll be able to attend.
During the hiatus, we have continued progress on a number of trail related projects including:
• The Dillard Connector Trail. This new section of the Ridgeline Trail was completed in October, a beautiful and much safer shared-use segment connecting the Fox Hollow Trailhead to the Dillard East Trailhead through park land, replacing the former route along the shoulder of Dillard Rd.
• The Spencer Butte Summit Trail project. Contractor’s bids are due this week for a reroute of the very heavily used trail from the treeline to the summit. This reroute will provide a much clearer and safer experience while also reducing negative impacts to the sensitive habitat on the rocky top. The project is expected to be complete by the end of this summer.
• Skinner Butte Columns Trail. This renovation of a badly eroded trail section above the rock climbing columns in Skinner Butte Park also has a contract out for bidding, with construction expected to be complete by the beginning of summer.
• Wild Iris Ridge connector. This new mile-long segment of the Ridgeline Trail will create an additional trailhead and looped trail connection through Wild Iris Ridge in SW Eugene. The alignment is currently being refined, with construction expected to be complete by the end of this summer.
Finally, and most importantly, the City is welcoming feedback and asking that community please take the second survey. On our behalf, Oregon State University is conducting this survey based on the recent statewide trails survey done for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, but shorter and focused on soft-surface trails in Eugene (including use of waterways by non-motorized craft). It only should take about 10 minutes.
Please take the survey and then send it to anyone you think might have an interest in Eugene’s Trails. Your responses needed – and the results will be presented at the upcoming meeting.
SHiNA 