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Beth Stein provided the update on Nearby Nature activities. She reported that the park host residence now has a blue exterior and was painted and updated on the inside, with new windows and a new heating system. She stated that the Waterwise Garden was "coming into its own." She said it was starting to look very good and they were looking forward to the partnership with the City of Eugene and the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) to use it as an educational resource. She hoped to bring new people into the park. She related that they had held the Haunted Hike on the preceding weekend, a huge event that took about 40 volunteers to run, and some 50 local businesses donated prizes for the raffle. She said about 500 people came and 80 pumpkins were carved and lit. Ms. Stein said they had received a grant for $10,000 from Staples and a grant for $5,000 from REI. She explained that the Staples grant was for a variety of things, including money to bring students from the Rachel Carson Academy at Churchill High School once every two weeks to do restoration work. She stated that the REI grant was for restoration and would fund work parties. She related that they would also work with Network Charter School (NCS) every other week working on restoration, especially in the Wildflower Hollow area. She reported that they had held several work parties this fall, including one that both mayors had attended and done litter removal. Ms. Stein stated that she had been with Nearby Nature since the beginning and was now seeing people who were Nearby Nature students and workers who were coming back as adults to volunteer. She reported that they had 1200 kids hiking in the park over the course of the fall, and it was now slowing down. She noted that they planned to put a lot of attention on the Wildflower Hollow. She thought it could be a good collaboration between the CPC, the City of Eugene, Nearby Nature, and others to make it a gateway into the park. Mr. Holloter asked if the camas was still doing okay. Ms. Stein replied that it was still in the field. She noted that Nearby Nature conducted Kalapuya walks and talk about what the indigenous people of this area used. Ms. Mello asked when the kiosk would be up in the Waterwise Garden. Ms. Stein responded that it needed to happen soon. She said she had talked with Chris Girard earlier in the day about options for placement and listed some of the possible locations: in the Waterwise Garden in the eco -lawn area, across Day Island Road in the area where people come and go from the dog park, or in the Whilamut Natural Area on the Butterfly Meadow side. Ms. Mello felt it was a good source of information. Ms. Stein concurred, noting that people miss having the map. Mr. Cooper said he enjoyed the weekly reports the park host was providing. He was impressed by the amount of work that went on. 7. Reports on Subcommittees a. Wildlife /Habitat Ms. Brand reported that she had emailed the Emerald Valley BMX trying to get copies of the information sent out to the recreational vehicle renters, so that they could ascertain the gaps in the information regarding the passive versus active use in the natural area. She said they had talked about the signage for the transition area at the last subcommittee meeting. She related that Ms. Mello planned to meet with her group and try to get some ideas from the samples they had looked at. Ms. Brand stated that she had checked in with Mr. Richardson regarding the slope just west of the Autzen path, because of the exposed tree roots and the old fencing. She hoped Mr. Richardson would have more to report on that because people were using the step informal paths and this was not good for the health of trees on the slope. MINUTES — Citizen Planning Committee for the Whilamut Natural Area October 28, 2010 Page 2