Santa Clara Community Organization – Eugene

Next meeting of the
Santa Clara Community Organization Thursday, September 7

7:00 p.m. Messiah Lutheran Church 3280 River Road

• On the menu:
  • Update: Beaver-Hunsaker redevelopment
  • County consideration of allowing individual homeless camping
  • Kickoff of the River Road-Santa Clara Area Plan (October 17)

Beaver-Hunsaker Update

The County Commission approved the Beaver-Hunsaker Corridor plan.

The next step is to find the funding to move ahead, beginning with refining the design concepts as the County works with the community to minimize impacts.

Public testimony about safety concerns due to speed on Beaver-Hunsaker has prompted the County to post an electonic speed feedback sign to attempt to slow traffic on this corridor.

Lane County approves consideration of
individual homeless camping

On August 22nd, the Lane County Board of Commissioners approved moving ahead with the establishment of a program to allow churches, businesses and other property owners in Santa Clara to give permission for a camp site on their property for someone that is vetted through St. Vincent DePaul.

Next steps in the RR-SC area plan

The current governing plan for River Road and Santa Clara was written 30 years ago and is sadly our of date in guiding the services and development in our community.

After years of our community organizations laying the groundwork for a new plan
the City of Eugene and Lane County has agreed to provide the time and resources to draft a new plan. Kickoff for this process will be on October 17. There will be an invitation letter sent to all households in River Road and Santa Clara before the kickoff. Areas that will be included in this plan will include:

• Land Use
• Parks and Recreation
• Transportation
• Public Safety
• Economic Development
• Governance

Other News: DOG PARK UPDATE

Last year members of the Santa Clara Community Organization took measures to respond to a community request to establish a dog park in Santa Clara. SCCO worked with the City of Eugene Parks to explore if this might be done at Lone Oak Park in south Santa Clara. Changes at City Parks and lack of City resources to improve parks put this on the back burner for a time.

Over the last couple of months SCCO has given this initiative new oxygen. A meeting with a City Parks planning has given this idea new hope. The City cited some experimental programs by other cities to establish unfenced dog parks where parks are not developed but are identified as off leash areas with dogs under the supervision of their owners. Lone Oak will be one of the parks in a pilot program where several City parks will be identified. We will be looking for volunteers to help get this established.

A Partnership between the Santa Clara Volunteer Fire Department and Lane Rural Fire Department

The Santa Clara Fire District is currently considering an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the Lane Fire Authority to combine financial, personnel, stations and equipment resources with the goal of maintaining or improving the current service levels.

This action is precipitated by the fact that in the past few years calls for service have dramatically increased while the number if volunteers have been decreasing.

News from the Santa Clara Community Garden Composting

On Saturday, September 16 at 11:00 a.m. there will be a workshop at the Santa Clara Community Garden (4110 River Road behind St. Matthew’s Church) to demonstrate several soil building methods. Master Gardener Bonnie Houston will demonstrate how to keep hot and cold composting going in the fall and winter.

Apple Trees Available

The Fall Gardening Festival at River Road Park and Recreation facility (Emerald Park, 1400 Lake Drive) on Saturday, September 23, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. will have 16 varieties of apple trees to purchase in support of Lane County gardening programs. Tress cost $10, and some available for $5.