Blackberries are ripe along River Loop 1

Posted on September 5, 2020 by Gary Haliski

One of the great features of living in Santa Clara is blackberry season. Now is the time to hop on your bike and ride along River Loop 1 and look for the many blackberry patches. And here’s a hint from a successfully blackberry tracker – the juicy ones are near creek beds or ponds.

If you are not familiar with River Loop 1, two of our bicycle routes will take you along several patches of blackberries. Go to our Santa Clara Bike Routes page and look for the 5 mile East Santa Clara ride and the 10 mile ride. There are several other fun rides on the page, including six 2 mile rides.

Lila showing off blackberries she found on River Loop 1 in Santa Clara
Lila from Argon Avenue heading home after successful blackberry hunt on River Loop 1.
Horse pointing out way to blackberry patch in Santa Clara.
Horse at corner of East Beacon and River Loop 1 nodding to the arrow that tells you which direction to go to find blackberries.

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Lane Arts Council’s Design Arts Apprenticeship Program Applications

Posted on September 3, 2020 by Gary Haliski

Applications are now open for the fall 2020 term of Lane Arts Council’s Design Arts Apprenticeship Program! The application is available in English and Spanish at http://lanearts.org/arts-apprenticeships/.

Students can choose between virtual or in-person participation this term. In-person sessions will follow OHA guidelines for safety. Note, the fully virtual version of the program allows Lane County students from any location to easily participate!

The Design Arts Apprenticeship program offers Lane County middle and high school students apprenticeship opportunities with professionals working in graphic, digital, and physical design.

This is a chance for students to learn new skills and uncover potential career paths over a 10-week period of intensive, direct learning.

Students will meet with a mentor group for approximately 2.5 hours per week for 10 weeks to work directly on a shared project. Students also participate in engaging design-focused workshops, and showcase their final products and learning during a week-long public display.

Please share this opportunity with any students you think may be interested, and reach out to artsed@lanearts.org with any questions.

APPLY TODAY!
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Santa Clara Transit Station Update – Sept 3

Posted on September 3, 2020 by Gary Haliski

To sign up for updates delivered directly from LTD to your email, please visit the LTD website and click on the green tab.

From LTD:

Current Status: Construction

Santa Clara Transit Station has taken shape as we progress towards the end of summer. Throughout August, concrete curbs, gutters, and storm water planters were installed in the bus loop.  Additional underground utilities were installed and the driveway that will allow buses to enter the station when heading northbound on River Road was poured. In September, concrete walls at the platform will be installed.

At the driver relief building, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC rough-in was completed and a weather barrier installed on the outside of the walls. This building will really start to look different as we head into September as the masons will be on-site installing the brick exterior.

EWEB was on-site in August to remove several power poles along Green Lane and relocate their electrical wires underground. In the last week of August, Delta began removing the asphalt pavement along Green Lane and preparing a new aggregate base. The heavy-lift of re-working Green Lane will continue thru mid-September, which is when new asphalt will be paved. As a reminder, a new sidewalk will be installed along the northern side of Green Lane with street lighting, thus drastically improving safety for pedestrians. Thank you for your patience as we work quickly and effectively to minimize traffic impacts along Green Lane.

At the intersection of Green Lane and River Road, two of the four traffic signal pole foundations were poured. The remaining two foundations to be poured on the west side of River Road will occur in September.

In August, the City of Eugene issued an Administrative Order to temporarily reduce the speed limit on River Road to 25 mph for the duration of construction of the Santa Clara Transit Station. Please drive with caution, follow the speed limit, and keep an eye out for bikers and pedestrians.

Traffic Impacts: Green Lane will be open to one-lane traffic from River Road to the east end of the Santa Clara Transit Station during construction hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Flaggers will be directing traffic around the road construction; drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists are encouraged to use caution when traveling on Green Lane. Outside of construction hours, Green Lane will be open for two-way traffic.

For More Information: Randi Staudinger, LTD Project Manager, Randi.Staudinger@LTD.org

For Public Comment: SCTransit@LTD.org or 541-682-3240

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Planning: Urban Reserves Update, Sept. 2020

Posted on September 1, 2020 by Tim Foelker

Dear Urban Reserves Interested Parties,

Thank you to the 1,300+ people that attended our month-long Virtual Open House! Two hundred and ten community members completed the survey. Out of the four Urban Reserves options, the 27-Year Option that removes from consideration Class 1 soils and adjacent Class 2 soils was the most supported. The full survey results can be viewed here. To learn more about the four urban reserve options, check out our Urban Reserves Options Story Map.

Kudos to the hard-working EETAC

Since October 2018, the Engage Eugene Technical Advisory Committee (EETAC) has met 17 times to review and provide input to staff on Urban Reserves planning work. At their July 16th meeting, they used consensus-based decision making to recommend the 27-Year Option to staff.

Planning Commission Recommendations

Earlier this month, the Eugene and Lane County Planning Commissions both met twice on Urban Reserves options. The role of both Commissions is to recommend an Urban Reserve option for the City Council and the Lane Board of County Commissioners to consider before making a final decision.

The Eugene Planning Commission voted 7-0 to recommend the 27-Year option

The Lane County Planning Commission voted 5-3 to recommend the 30-Year Option with a plan policy requiring the Class 1 and 2 farm land in the Awbrey subarea to be the last of the urban reserve land to be considered for expansion of Eugene’s urban growth boundary.

Watch the August 3rd full staff presentation to Eugene Planning Commission here.
Watch the August 17th Eugene Planning Commission recommendation here.
Watch the August 18th Lane County Planning Commission recommendation here.

Next Steps—Stay Involved!

Staff is preparing for a joint work session with the Eugene City Council and Lane County Board of Commissioners on September 21st. Then, in October, the City Council and Board of Commissioners will be asked to provide direction to staff on their preferred Urban Reserve option, so we can begin preparing an adoption package to bring back to them.

If you wish to provide public input on Urban Reserves, please do so by sharing your thoughts via public comment. If you wish to provide public comment, please do so by submitting written public comment tothe Eugene City Council or  Lane County Board of Commissioners.

When available, meeting links and agendas will be posted on the Urban Reserves webpage and Engage Eugene page. For more information, sign-up for our monthly Planning Newsletter and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. If you have questions about the Urban Reserves options or how to provide input, please contact myself or Project Manager Rebecca Gershow at 541-682-8816

Thank you,

Sophie McGinley
Assistant Planner
City of Eugene | Planning Division
Smcginley@eugene-or.gov
541.682.5476

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Santa Clara Community Park Virtual Office Hours

Posted on September 1, 2020 by Tim Foelker

If you missed our Santa Clara Community Park workshop last week, you can catch up with this 6-minute video of Mark Kosmos, landscape architect and project manager, explaining the elements of the park design. Then weigh in on the design with our short survey.

Drop in to Mark’s virtual office hours today, Tuesday, September 1 between 3 – 6 p.m. to ask any questions. 

Thanks in advance for your participation and input on the park.

Kind regards,
The Santa Clara Community Park Project Team

Posted in General Interest, Parks - Dog Parks, Parks and Natural Resources, Santa Clara Community Park, Urban Planning | Leave a comment