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Eugene City CounciC
<br />2007 - 2008 Goals
<br />Neighborhood Empowerment
<br />Kedesign the neighborhood initiative to support the neighborhoods which includes publz'c participation in the livability and protection of
<br />neighborhoods and identifies specific redevelopment strategies that preserve the integrity of residential uses, including design standards,
<br />site review, down honing, infill regulation, and bolstering and empowering neighborhood associations to get more involvement.
<br />A Neighborhood Summit was held in February 2007 that helped identify and prioritize the key issues for neighborhood
<br />associations across Eugene. A committee of neighborhood association representatives is now working in collaboration
<br />with City staff to develop action plans to address these top priority issues. New staff has been added in the Planning and
<br />Development Department to specifically work with neighborhoods on a variety of land use issues, and a consultant is
<br />being sought to evaluate and make recommendations on how to improve the City's support of neighborhood associations.
<br />Meanwhile, individuals are making a difference in their neighborhoods today by implementing innovative projects that are
<br />funded through a combination of volunteer labor and donations and Ciry Neighborhood Matching Grant funds.
<br />Arts and Outdoors
<br />5trengtben our cosre>vitmerat to conTfnunit~ aitr and oaitdoor assets.
<br />Several important efforts continued the work to strengthen and promote Eugene's
<br />bountiful cultural, recreational and environmental assets. In July, the City Council
<br />unanimously accepted the Cultural Policy Review report and directed staff to move
<br />forward on the top priority strategies. The five-month-long celebration of the Hult
<br />Center's 25th anniversary brought more than 10,500 guests to the facility for 1 !
<br />events, most free of charge.
<br />Several property acquisitions secured park and open space land, and additional lan ?
<br />surrounding Golden Gardens Park will be acquired to allow future expansion. Th<
<br />City and School District 4J are cooperating to develop two all-weather sports field • .~
<br />south Eugene middle schools.
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<br />The national and international spotVght will soon shine on Eugene and its arts <<u~ uutduor~ <<r.,c.:iuc, uh~u ih~ : by hosts
<br />the 2008 Olympic Track & Field Trials. Long-term benefits to the community include improvements to the nverfront trail
<br />system and enhanced youth health and fitness opportunities.
<br />Hospital
<br />Facilitate the development of a full service hospital in Eugene,
<br />With the selection of the Delta Ridge site as its preferred location for a new hospital, McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center
<br />devoted much of 2007 to the first step of the land use application process. Beginning in the spring of 2007 and extending
<br />through much of the summer, the Planning Commission met 14 times, totaling 23 hours, to discuss McKenzie-Willamette
<br />Medical Center's requests for a Metro Plan amendment, refinement plan amendment and zone change. The Planning
<br />Commission found that the applications met the majority of the approval criteria, with the exception of three Metro Plan
<br />policies. On August 13, 2007, the Planning Commission voted 7 to 0 to forward this recommendation to the City Council.
<br />McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center subsequently requested that the public hearing before the council be postponed
<br />to allow additional time to respond to the issues identified by the Planning Commission. The City Council is tentatively
<br />scheduled to hold its public hearing in January 2008.
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<br />Sustainability Initiative
<br />Develop Office of Sustairaabak~t~ and Satstainabilily CO7YIinZJfZOYi that support broad sustainable practia~ ,~ .r ;,~eate a tool chest of
<br />tbinbs needed to support businesses that produce sustainable products or pro>nd ~ ~» ~~ ~ sustaanc ~ „ .. ~ ~.
<br />Sustainability is a new goal added by the City Council in January. The action plan, approved by the council in July, details a
<br />two-phase approach. The first phase focuses on launching the Office of Sustainability and the Sustainability Commission
<br />and developing related programs and activities. The second, longer-term phase will emphasize progress on the behavioral
<br />and cultural changes necessary to achieve measurable improvement in the Sustainability of the community. The Sustainability
<br />Manager began work in June, and her first efforts have been in developing relationships with the many city and county
<br />partners to identify ways of svorlung together. Analysis of current City programs, activities and documentation is underway
<br />to determine strategic priorities. The new Sustainability Commission met for the first time in late November.
<br />Downtown Initiative
<br />Facilitate sagnificant revitali~atiaii of downtown care.
<br />Over the past year, the City Manager and staff have worked diligently to facilitate
<br />projects that create a vibrant downtown neighborhood. While the high profile work
<br />to redevelop West Broadway was significantly curtailed with the vote against the
<br />amendment of the Downtown Urban Renewal District, other programs and projects
<br />are having a significant impact on downtown. Since July, the City has approved two
<br />Downtown Revitalization loans totaling $207,500 which will leverage an additional
<br />X842,500 in private investment. This loan program is designed to encourage investments
<br />within the Downtown Urban Renewal District that contribute to the economic vibrancy
<br />and density goals for downtown. Under construction since December 2006, WestTown
<br />on 8th will be completed early in 2008 and will add 102 affordable housing units and
<br />nine live/work market rate units. Significant work has also been dedicated to identifying
<br />public improvements and resources needed to support the redevelopment of
<br />downtown. In September, HUD approved the Section 108 Loan Guarantee individual project, concluding the necessary
<br />approval process for the use of federal funds to purchase parcels within the West Broadway redevelopment area.
<br />Police Initiative
<br />Increasepolice staffing with a speaal focus on supporting communitypoliangand reducingproperty crime.
<br />As the City prepares for a budget realignment process to respond to an expected FY10 deficit in the General Fund,
<br />recommendations for this initiative have been delayed while the new outcome-based system is developed. This initiative is
<br />linked to several unresolved community and regional public safety issues, including policing at the University of Oregon and
<br />budget uncertainty fox Lane County law enforcement. The newly consolidated Crime Prevention Unit has expanded services
<br />for the community such as calls to homes where burglaries occurred but no follow-up from the police department had been
<br />conducted. In the first two months of initiating this service, civilian crime prevention specialists contacted 72 victims for
<br />follow-up services. The Eugene Police Commission is scheduled to consider the findings of the Magellan police staffing
<br />review, and will develop a public process for community discussion of police staffing needs.
<br />Transportation Initiative
<br />Develop mechanisms to adequately fund our transportation system for cars, trucks, bikes and pedestrians including maintenance and
<br />preservation and capital re-construction.
<br />Eugene has a backlog of more than $170 million in pavement repairs. The principle sources of funding for the pavement
<br />preservation program are local gas tax revenues and a portion of the fees paid by new development. To find ways to bring
<br />the backlog under control and preserve a $500 million community asset, a council subcommittee last spring recommended
<br />a package of revenue options designed to reduce the backlog significantly over the next 10 years and also to keep Eugene's
<br />operating road fund solvent. Meanwhile, in 2007, more than $5 million in paving repairs was done. A total of 20.51ane miles
<br />on 10 city streets received new overlays and more than 17 lane miles of residential streets in two areas in southeast Eugene
<br />got slurry seal treatments.
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