LTD update and seeking SCCO board members

Posted on December 9, 2017 by Gary Haliski

We had an informative SCCO meeting last week.  We know it can be difficult working the SCCO meetings into your schedule.  If you miss a meeting or two, we encourage you to look at the SCCO minutes.  Our most recent meeting was held last Thursday, December 7.  Key topics were:

  • LTD transfer station update.  What will the old Santa Clara School site become?
  • Concerns about the Egan Warming Center at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church
  • The River Road – Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan.  We hope you were one of over 400 people who attended the meeting at North Eugene High School.  If not, don’t worry.  There will be more opportunities to get involved.
  • Should the SCCO take a stand regarding White Nationalists in the Eugene-Springfield area?
  • Can we get the city to back a dog park at Lone Oak Park?
  • Four SCCO board positions are open.  The January 4 meeting is when board members are selected.

Please try and make our SCCO meetings.  The next meeting is Thursday, January 4th.  Hot topics recently have been the LTD transit station move to the Santa Clara Elementary School property, homelessness, the Beaver-Hunsaker corridor and converting part of Lone Oak Park to a dog park.

The draft minutes to the December 7 meeting can be found here.  Draft minutes are reviewed, corrected if needed and approved at the following meeting.

Posted in General Interest | Leave a comment

2017 Community Garden Update

Posted on December 6, 2017 by Peter Thurston

Santa Clara Community Garden Compost Report 2017
December 4, 2017

Composting at Santa Clara Community Garden began in 2017 in a variety of forms, including: vermiculture, hot compost, cold compost, and lasagna. Four community involvement workshops were held April through November and collection processes for compostable materials are now set up for the coming year. Master Gardeners Bonnie Houston, Peter Thurston, and Tim Foelker led the sessions with assistance from George Price and Craig Butler, Santa Clara gardeners. The results are: one pile of compost ready to use, a few compost piles in process, a worm bin that is very active, and about 25 people better informed about compost techniques. A TV station provided coverage for the last workshop.

Plans for the coming year include reorganizing the compost area around the garden shed, moving the hoophouse next to the garden shed, and coordinate improvements to the composting area with St. Matthew’s plans to update the kids’ playground area.

The Santa Clara Community Garden has been operating now for 5 years. The garden is sponsored by St Matthews Episcopal Church, Santa Clara Community Organization, and Huerto de la Familia. Garden plots are available by calling Peter at 541-321-0798.

Posted in Santa Clara Community Garden | Leave a comment

SCCO Meeting Main Topic This Thursday – Planning the LTD transfer site

Posted on December 5, 2017 by Gary Haliski

Santa Clara Community Organization Meeting
Thursday, December 7
7:00 p.m.
Messiah Lutheran Church, 3280 River Road

The southeast corner of Hunsaker Lane and River Road is the former site of the Santa Clara Elementary School. The Lane Transit District purchased the 8+ acre site two years ago to be used for a bus transfer station. SCCO is currently wanting to continue working on trying to achieve its vision of a community focal point. LTD is not really in the development business, but is just interested in a bus station in a portion of the property. This means that they may simply sell off the rest of the lot to be developed by commercial developers.
The Santa Clara Community Organization is seeking a way to realize at least a portion of this lot for public use. This might mean public amenities peripheral to a central plaza. Also there might be an educational function honoring this spot as the historical center of Santa Clara and honoring the Santa Clara agricultural heritage, possibly featuring a farmers market.
The December meeting of the Santa Clara Community Organization will feature a free wheeling discussion of what might be considered in a community gathering spot and some strategies as to how this might be accomplished. Come and participate. Share your vision.

The original LTD plan was to place the transfer station in the bottom right quarter of the map. The rest of the old Santa Clara school site would be sold to developers. This plan shows housing in the top right and commercial all along River Road.

Posted in Beaver-Hunsaker & Multi Use Path, General Interest, Land Use Planning, LTD Transit Station | 6 Comments

County passes Homeless Overnight/Car Camping Pilot Test for River Road and Santa Clara

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Gary Haliski

Lane County Commissioners voted to start an overnight homeless camping/parking pilot program in the River Road corridor.  The Register-Guard article this morning explains the program.

More specific details can be found in the Lane County memorandum dated November 13.   The following is from the November 13 memorandum.

How it works: A faith community, business, non-profit organization or government office notifies the program coordinator that it wishes to invite a homeless family or individual to stay overnight on their parking lot. The host will work with the program coordinator to establish rules and expectations for the vehicle camper. Vehicle campers call the OPP for an interview appointment to discuss their needs. Applicants may be asked to agree to a criminal background check. The camper may be assigned a parking location at this time or be put on a waiting list. The program coordinator then makes the best possible matches, selecting campers based on the criteria established by a host facility. Once a match is made and both parties agree to terms and conditions for the stay, the OPP arranges sanitation services for the location and on-going site management begins.

Posted in Houseless & Rest Stops, Land Use Planning | Leave a comment

Overnight Camping Program – Meeting tomorrow, Tuesday Nov 21

Posted on November 20, 2017 by Gary Haliski

Overnight Camping Program
Pilot Project

One more neighborhood discussion is planned:

Lane County Board of Commissioners is considering implementing a pilot project to allow camping on private property in the urban transition portions adjacent to the city of Eugene.

County Commissioner Pat Farr will join Jon Belcher and nonprofit and public safety officials to discuss the program being considered and hear input from neighbors.

Tuesday November 21, 2017
6:30 p.m.— 8:00 p.m.
North Eugene High School – Library
200 Silver Lane
Eugene, OR 97404

Posted in Houseless & Rest Stops | 1 Comment