Bond Reports 2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City in December 2007. It has 10 rental units that will continue to be managed as rental units until a future date. The remaining property has a single family home that is also a rental property. This property is expected to close in the next few months and will also continue to be managed as a rental property. Golden Gardens Park Acquisition and Development o In December 2007, the City closed on 170 acres of property adjacent to Golden Gardens Park. Interest from Lane County has been expressed in 100 acres as a possible site to relocate the Fairgrounds. The County has an option to purchase those 100 acres from the City, at the City's purchase price, until June of 2009. If this sale to the county occurs, the City will pursue an additional 30 acre purchase from the Babb family in order to achieve the goal of acquiring 100 acres total. o Improvements completed at Golden Gardens include grading of the banks of the ponds to improve safety and plant and wildlife habitat, development of a new trail system circumnavigating the ponds (summer 2008), and native plantings on the pond banks (winter 2008 -09). o A grand- opening celebration for the park improvements was held on June 25, with Mayor Piercy addressing the large contingent of neighbors and park users in attendance. Natural Area Park Acquisition o A planning /visioning process for the Willamette River led by Lane Council of Governments and funded jointly by POS and other regional partners began this past spring. A very successful workshop was held in June at the EWEB facility. A planning exercise involving staff from the partner agencies is scheduled for the first week of October. This process will lead to a refinement of the Rivers to Ridges vision, similar to the one recently completed for the ridgeline area. This vision will provide direction and context for targeting the most important parcels with the '06 Bond funds earmarked for Willamette River acquisition. o Staff continues negotiations with the owner /developer of the Tre Vistas subdivision adjacent to Gillespie Butte Park. These negotiations are addressing proposed changes to the right of way adjacent to the park, and are expected to result in greatly improved access, landscaping improvements, expanded street frontage and on- street parking to serve the park. Completion of the negotiations has been delayed by the economic downturn and the slow -down in the residential construction market. o Since the passage of the bond measure, more than 377 acres of ridgeline properties for the Ridgeline Trail system have been purchased, utilizing bond funds together with a variety of other funding sources. These properties provide key linkages along the Ridgeline corridor and also provide substantial natural resource and scenic value. Included are 39 acres in the Amazon Headwaters area, and the 200 -acre Arlie property adjacent to Mt. Baldy. Donations were received from two of the property owners totaling $1 million dollars. The acquisition of an additional 400 acres is still pending, based on the results of two grant applications. Synthetic Surface Athletic Fields o School District 4J has constructed fields at Cal Young Middle School, Madison Middle School, Jefferson Middle School and Spencer Butte Middle School. o School District 52 has constructed fields at Willamette High School and Meadowview School. o Four existing District 4J synthetic turf fields will be replaced at a future date. West Eugene Wetland Education Center o The construction of Phase 1 of the West Eugene Wetland Education Center continues to be on hold pending fundraising and partner funding from other entities.