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,f+LAIDAIDC Public Works <br /> Maintenance <br /> 1994 1820 Roosevelt Boulevard <br /> August 24th, Eugene,Oregon 97402 <br /> (503)687-5220 <br /> Judith and Peter Watt <br /> 4050 Dillard Road <br /> Eugene, Or 97405 <br /> Thank you for your August 15th letter regarding the Public Works Department's maintenance <br /> policy and practices along upper Amazon Creek. Comments such as yours allow the City to <br /> maintain a balanced perspective when assessing the maintenance and development of this <br /> highly visible and important waterway. <br /> In your letter, you expressed concerns about the relationship of current maintenance efforts <br /> to the proposal to redesign and enhance the creek, as well as the basic conflict between flood <br /> control practices and the preservation of wildlife habitat. As you may know, the City <br /> recently completed an extensive effort to develop a comprehensive stormwater management <br /> - plan intended to address multiple objectives of the stormwater system, including conveyance <br /> capacity and habitat values. I can see where you might view current maintenance efforts as <br /> inconsistent with the City's support for a proposal to develop and enhance aesthetic and <br /> habitat values along this segment of the creek. However, I wish to assure you that our <br /> current vegetation removal efforts in no way imply a decision by the City to abandon this <br /> proposal. <br /> Jeff Krueger, who developed and presented this proposal, realized that maintaining the <br /> capacity of the creek to handle storm runoff was one of the primary components of any plan <br /> to enhance the creek. He accounted for this by proposing to widen the creek channel <br /> between East and West Amazon Drives. Following Jeff's proposal, the City conducted an <br /> analysis to determine the feasibility of this concept. Results of this study indicate the <br /> proposed widening of the creek will just offset the flow restrictions that will be created by <br /> allowing growth of in-channel riparian vegetation. <br /> This feasibility analysis also estimated excavation and construction costs for the project to be <br /> approximately 6 million dollars. Additionally, the City would be required to conduct a <br /> detailed planning and design process before beginning work on such a major capital project. <br /> For the last two years the City has included funding for this project as part of it's annual <br /> federal congressional lobbying effort. However, at this time no source of funding has been <br /> secured to begin the engineering and project development phase of this proposal. <br /> Maintainiflrcapacity of the Amazon continues to be a primary component of our multiple <br /> objective stormwater management program. As recently as 1981, the section of the creek <br /> between Hilyard Street and Fox Hollow Road reached the top of its banks one night during a <br /> severe rain storm. This resulted in extensive flooding along East and West Amazon Drives, <br />