Author: Joshua Kielas

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River Road Community Update #204

By Carleen Reilly

Time to buckle down and get back to regular order–report on events and alert you to upcoming calendar items. Lots of stuff going on.

River Road Corridor Study. In my Supplemental message #203, I mostly spoke about the tone of the charette. Instituting ground rules for our meetings should improve the tone of our community meetings and increase what we can accomplish together.

This report is my perspective and highlights of the charette. Three gatherings occurred in addition to the 3 open houses: Business round table of River Road and Santa Clara business people with a few neighbors on or near River Road; a meeting focused on transportation with staff and concerned activists; and Technical Advisory Committee (city and county staff with expertise across departments).

The business round table was remarkable to me with the varying types of businesses and their willingness to take an hour from their work to share their thoughts. One person from PeaceHealth in Santa Clara was the only representative from that neighborhood. She voiced concern for the safety of their patients and staff getting to and from their location. She also noted that it was hoped that with better safety protocols, more people would access their services by bike and public transit. I hadn’t expected that comment.

River Road businesses were insurance, produce market, property owners who wished to develop property–either commercial or housing–or managed property for others. We asked them what barriers they faced as they set up their business, expanded their business, or encountered other development challenges. It was exciting to hear that they have plans for our neighborhood and are motivated to engage in our future.

The transportation folks raised issues of connectivity (getting around in our neighborhoods by walking, with bikes, or driving without going to River Road or Northwest Expressway) and safety. The context is that we have lots of transportation projects underway. (I can send you an electronic copy of these projects, their locations, some specifics, and funding.)

The transportation group reviewed the prior day’s work tracing a potential bike/ped loop through the west River Road neighborhood, across Beltline to Ruby Ave. in Santa Clara, and followed through to the east side of Santa Clara connecting with the West Bank Trail along the Willamette River. (Many neighbors seemed interested in that speculative route, too.) A comment was that buffered bike lanes along River Road would be a priority before tackling the inner neighborhood connectivity.

They discussed not knowing what increased housing along River Road Corridor would look like, and they are pleased that funding is available to study this aspect. One comment was that we don’t know, yet, whether River Road will be selected as an EmX corridor. It was speculated that it would be about 5 years or so before it would be constructed.

The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) reviewed the same materials that the transportation folks saw. They commented on the concepts of developing commercial centers that were called Barbells (large center at each end of the corridor with smaller ones in between), String of Pearls (equal-sized commercial centers), or various sized centers (can’t remember name). A comment was made that the String of Pearls might be called “Charm Bracelet.” Another person noted that each commercial center could tell its own story, giving each its own identity.

At other moments in the charette, it was noted that there is the potential that all of the commercial nodes along the corridor might join to create a single commercial strip. No one wants that, so it will be important to have housing between nodes, appropriately landscaped, to protect livability. I really liked the way the consultants talked about developing a rhythm along the corridor from housing to commercial, and they voiced their hope to help us implement our vision of being the River and Garden District.

I could go on, but I am sure you are tired of reading. We were all pleased with the numbers of interested people at each open house, perhaps 70 the first evening, fewer the second, and many more than 70 the third evening.

Beltline Project representation. We are so fortunate that our neighbor, Michele O’Leary, has agreed to be our new representative on the Beltline Project. Much of our congestion on River Road derives from a cue of vehicles ready to enter Beltline. Because Michele is on our Neighborhood Planning Community Advisory Committee, facilitates the Transportation Working Group, and is now on the Beltline CAC, she will be able to help us integrate our transportation projects. She can make sure they accomplish what our neighborhoods want, facilitate communications between projects to coordinate with one another, and communicate next steps to neighbors. A program to update RRCO about Beltline will be in order after Michele attends a quarterly meeting.

Howard Elementary Sidewalks. A sweet video “Thank you for sidewalks around Howard Elementary!” is on the web. It was good to see our school implement this safety measure.

4J Bond Measure improvements. Your input is requested to help design new buildings recently approved with a bond measure.You can sign up to receive updates. bond@4j.lane.edu

Our neighborhood will have a new North Eugene High School constructed as a result of this bond. An open house is scheduled for Thursday, March 7, 5:30 to 8:30, at NEHS. A follow up event is scheduled for April 16, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. I can forward to you the complete message if you are interested.

Grattan Kerans Obit. Many of you will remember Grattan Kerans. He devoted his life to public service and lived in the River Road neighborhood for many years. In fact, he lived just around the corner from us on Willa Lane. We were fortunate to have him represent us in the legislature and in other positions.

https://eugeneregisterguard-or.newsmemory.com/?ta_r=1

Plastics Recycling. 141 people attended training for 2-4-5 plastics Community Collectors held in Eugene. More attended and will attend in Florence. Community Collector registrations are closed. Additional applicants re encouraged to review instructions and use resources on the website, collect from 10 or more people and come to the round up on April 7. Registered Community Collectors will make appointments to drop off plastic throughout the month of March. Please refer people who ask to www.lanecounty.org/plasticsroundup for details including posters to download.

Calendar

  • MONDAY, February 25, 11:30. Eugene Planning Commission. Sloat Room. Neighborhood Planning update.
  • LAST SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH, Eug-Art404 meets at Maynard and Copping. Contact Meisha Linwood kdxsnook [at] yahoo [dot] com for info.
    March/April, 2019, Neighborhood Planning Public Event. More info to come.
  • TUESDAY, March 5, 2019, 6:00 p.m. Lane County Planning Commission Work Session, RR/SC NP.Lane County Customer Services, Goodpasture Room. 3050 Delta Highway.THURSDAY, March 7, 5:30 to 8:30. Public meeting to start design work at NEHS
  • MONDAY, March 11, 2019, 5:30 p.m. Eugene City Council Work Session, RR/SC NP. Harris Hall
  • MONDAY, March 11, 2019, 7:00 p.m. River Road Community Organization. Election for 3 board positions. Candidates needed. Bike path improvements, including lighting.
  • MONDAY, March 18, 2019, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. MovingAhead Community-Wide Open House. Baker Center, 975 High St., Eugene plus Open Comment Period from Mark 11-April 10. Your input will help us develop a preferred package of investments for City Council and the LTD Board to approve later this year. MovingAhead.org.
  • MONDAY, March 18, 2019, 7:00 p.m. River Road Community Organization Board meeting. River Road Annex, 1055 River Road.
  • TUESDAY, March 19, 2019, 9:00 to Noon. Lane County Board of Commissioners work Session. Harris Hall.
  • TUESDAY, April 7, 5:30 to 8:30, Building design meeting. NEHS

Disclaimer: The RR CRG weekly messages are my personal views and interpretation of community events and neighborhood planning efforts. I am not a Board member of RRCO (River Road Community Organization); SCRRIPT (Santa Clara-River Road Implementation Planning Team) has transitioned leadership to the Community Advisory Committee (CAC); and I have never been a City employee.

Carleen Reilly has lived in the neighborhood for over 40 years. She served on the RRCO board of directors from 2007-2013, and has been involved over the years with the Joint Strategy Team (JuST), the Santa Clara-River Road Outreach and Learning project (SCRROL), and the Santa Clara-River Road Implementation Planning Team (SCRRIPT)

She publishes a weekly e-newsletter called “River Road Community Resource Group Newsletter” that focuses on land use, transportation, parks and open spaces, economic development, and Community interests as they are related to our Neighborhood Planning activities in conjunction with the Santa Clara neighborhood. If you would like to subscribe you can contact Carleen at: carleenr |at| gmail dot com.

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River Road Community Update #202

By Carleen Reilly

How did you like that snow? I hope all is snug and warm at your house with no frozen pipes. I’m seeing pictures of emerging flowers–snowdrops and hellebores–from neighbors on Facebook. Can Spring not be too far behind?

RR/SC Community Plan – Triple Bottom Line Sounding Board. TONIGHT, 6:00 p.m. Update on NP Policy Writing; Evaluate draft policies for environmental, economic, and social aspects of sustainability. Saul Room, Atrium Building, 99 @ 10th Ave., 3rd Floor.

NP Business canvass report. One neighbor reported her experience canvassing to invite owners to participate in the RR Corridor study. “Canvassing was fun.” Most conversations were constructive with just two reports of less than friendly business owners. We really need people to listen, learn, and provide feedback, now. We don’t want people showing up at the last stages saying they didn’t know what was going on and hate the results of all of our work. Please ask people to sign up for neighborhood planning e-mails to keep up to date. Thanks.

River Road Corridor Open Houses. Three days of work on transportation, housing, and commercial build out will culminate in 3 evenings of open houses for you to review the day’s work.

The River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan is charting a vision for the future of our two neighborhoods. A key goal is to improve River Road, the major street that runs through Santa Clara and River Road, connecting the neighborhoods to central Eugene. The Neighborhood Plan draft vision includes “thriving, vibrant, and active mixed neighborhood centers along the River Road Corridor” and “a transportation system that is safe, accessible, affordable, and environmentally responsible.”

To implement the vision, the Corridor Study integrates how people get around, where they shop and live, where they work, and how the corridor looks and feels.

Three sessions are dedicated to getting essential public input in planning our River Road corridor.

  • February 11th — 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
  • February 12th — 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
  • February 13th — 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. (presentation at 7 p.m.)

All sessions will be held at the emergency services training center: 1705 W. 2ND Avenue, Eugene (at the south end of the Chambers Connector overpass)

LTD Transit Tomorrow Survey. Take this quick survey. I found it actually asked questions I was interested in and wanted to supply my answers about bus service. I look forward to seeing the compilation of neighbors’ views. www.LTD.org/Transit-Tomorrow

Last summer, many of you participated in LTD’s outreach for Transit Tomorrow: a comprehensive look at LTD’s service and operations. LTD sought input on types of public transit service the community valued and where LTD should prioritize resources.

The LTD team contacted riders, residents, business owners, non-profit organizations, city leaders, and others through tabling events, forums, listening sessions, and an online open house (a survey).

LTD used what was heard from the public last summer to create four distinct transit system alternatives asking the following questions:

should LTD provide more frequent public transit along major corridors or should LTD provide service to a broader area of the community?
should LTD lower fares for everyone or provide more service on weekends and evenings?

The public’s answers to these two questions helped create four possible scenarios that demonstrate how transit service could change in the near future. Currently, LTD is seeking a second round of input. This is your opportunity to help LTD further define what transit service should look like in the community. To provide feedback, you can participate in an online open house, attend one of multiple tabling events at the Springfield station or the Eugene station, or attend a public presentation about Scenarios Report held at the University of Oregon. Get detailed information on dates and times or participate in the online open house. www.LTD.org/Transit-Tomorrow

FREE – Post Office Service. The Post Office has an Informed Delivery program. Everyday (except Sunday?) you can get an email message with images of all the items coming to your mailbox. You can know if your mail is missing and who to inform if it is missing. It also allows you to manage delivery of packages online, including leaving delivery instructions or scheduling a re-delivery if you happen to miss the first one. Here is the link to sign up:
https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/pages/intro/start.action

Affordable Housing Update. From Ellen Meyi-Galloway: Tuesday, January 29, the Eugene-Springfield HOME Consortium awarded $725,000 in HOME funds to the River Road Affordable Housing proposal by St. Vincent de Paul to aid in the development of 53-units of affordable housing on the city-owned property at 1505-1525 River Road. RRCO will have three neighbors on the committee with St. Vincent de Paul for continuing updates.

Plastics Roundup. A few bits of information about the plastics roundup are now available. A two-hour time slot on March 31 at Emerald Park to conduct our neighborhood pre-round up process is in the offing. Some volunteers are needed to help. Because this is our first time around, we have no idea whether there will be overwhelming response or limited need. Let me know if you want more details, and I will send your name along to our River Road neighbor who has stepped up to work through the necessary details.

Santa Clara is also looking for a coordinator, assistants, and a location to conduct pre-roundup.

For those not able to find a community collector, residents are encouraged to come to the Plastics Roundup on Sunday, April 7, 2019 at the Glenwood Transfer Station from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Lane County will ONLY accept #2, #4 and #5 tubs, jugs, bottles, lids and beverage handles that are CLEAN and free of debris (labels removed). Materials must be sorted into the following five material categories: #2 bottles & jugs; #2 tubs & lids; #2 beverage handles; #4 bottles, tubs & lids; #5 bottles, tubs & lids.

Calendar

  • WEDNESDAY, February 6, 6:00 p.m. RR/SC Community Plan – Triple Bottom Line Sounding Board. Saul Room, Atrium Building, 99 @ 10th Ave.
  • THURSDAY, February 7, 7:00 p.m. Santa Clara Community Organization general membership meeting. Messiah Lutheran Church, 3280 River Road. SCCO board elections, possible anti-bias and hate policy adoption, and other items.
  • SATURDAY, February 9, 9:00 a.m. Rasor Park Wildflower Planting. Come dressed for the weather! The City will provide tools and snacks—though a personal water bottle is always a good idea. Be sure to RSVP (friendsofrasorpark [at] gmail dot com) to help us with planning.
  • MONDAY through WEDNESDAY, February 11 – 13, River Road Corridor Study. Daytime committee work with evening public open house at 4:00, 6:00 p.m. or 6:30 (Various times–see link). NOTE: Monday evening, attend open house and then come to the RRCO meeting starting at 7:00. Firestation at 2nd and Chambers. https://www.eugene-or.gov/4110/Corridor-Study
  • MONDAY, February 11, 2019, 7:00 p.m. RRCO General Membership meeting. River Road Annex. A look at the Greenway.
    Happy Valentine’s Day!
  • MONDAY, February 18, 2019, 7:00 p.m. RRCO Board meeting. River Road Annex.
  • TUESDAY, February 19, LTD/City Council Work Session, Moving Ahead.
  • TUESDAY, February 19, 2019. 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Community Advisory Committee. North Eugene High School.
  • MONDAY, February 25, 11:30. Eugene Planning Commission. Sloat Room. Neighborhood Planning update.
  • LAST SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH, Eug-Art404 meets at Maynard and Copping. Contact Meisha Linwood <kdxsnook@yahoo.com> for info.
    February/March, 2019, Neighborhood Planning Public Event. More info to come.
  • TUESDAY, March 5, 2019, 6:00 p.m. Lane County Planning Commission Work Session, RR/SC NP.Lane County Customer Services, Goodpasture Room. 3050 Delta Highway.
  • MONDAY, March 11, 2019, 5:30 p.m. Eugene City Council Work Session, RR/SC NP. Harris Hall.
  • TUESDAY, March 19, 2019, 9:00 to Noon. Lane County Board of Commissioners work Session.Harris Hall.


Disclaimer: The RR CRG weekly messages are my personal views and interpretation of community events and neighborhood planning efforts. I am not a Board member of RRCO (River Road Community Organization); SCRRIPT (Santa Clara-River Road Implementation Planning Team) has transitioned leadership to the Community Advisory Committee (CAC); and I have never been a City employee.

Carleen Reilly has lived in the neighborhood for over 40 years. She served on the RRCO board of directors from 2007-2013, and has been involved over the years with the Joint Strategy Team (JuST), the Santa Clara-River Road Outreach and Learning project (SCRROL), and the Santa Clara-River Road Implementation Planning Team (SCRRIPT)

She publishes a weekly e-newsletter called “River Road Community Resource Group Newsletter” that focuses on land use, transportation, parks and open spaces, economic development, and Community interests as they are related to our Neighborhood Planning activities in conjunction with the Santa Clara neighborhood. If you would like to subscribe you can contact Carleen at: carleenr |at| gmail dot com.

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River Road Community Update #198

By Carleen Reilly

Here’s just a few words on fences/walls/security. It may be that rich people are building fences to protect their property. Our neighbors have told me that they are more interested in building a strong social fabric and sense of community. They tell me that they are taking down fences, sharing the bounty of the soil, bearing the burdens of sorrow, and experiencing the ecstacy of joyous events together. I do hear that our neighbors are putting in security cameras and implementing other safety measures, like cutting back shrubs–leaving no place for criminals to hide, as recommended by the Eugene Police. Seems like that is smart security.

Renters’ Survey. Teresa Kennedy replied to my question about whether unincorporated people in our neighborhoods could partake in this survey. She said ‘absolutely.’ The costs of housing, both rental and home ownership, are prohibitive for many people in our community. Evictions from rental properties are rampant, so starting with this piece of the puzzle makes sense. I urge you to participate in this survey. The link to the survey is https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PSRMFXD (English) and https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PJNMKDQ (Spanish).

RRCO General Membership meeting. January 14 at 7:00 at the River Road Annex. Meeting agenda will focus on a few River Road transportation projects that are going on concurrently. They will work together to provide integrated solutions to problems we have long complained about. And Eug-Art404’s update of their activities in our neighborhood will tickle our creative juices.

Calendar 

  • SATURDAY, January 12, 2019, 10:00 to Noon. Rasor Park Second Saturday work party. 729 River Road.
  • MONDAY, January 14, 2019, 7:30 p.m. Eugene City Council. Selection of developer of RR Affordable Housing Project. Harris Hall.
  • MONDAY, January 14, 2019, 7:00 p.m. RRCO General Membership meeting. River Road Corridor study, MovingAhead, and Santa Clara Transit Station; update on Eug-Art404. River Road Annex, 1055 River Road.
  • TUESDAY, January 15, 2019, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Community Advisory Committee, North Eugene High School, Library.
  • MONDAY, January 21, 2019, 7:00 p.m. RRCO Board meeting. River Road Annex.
  • SUNDAY, January 27, 2019, 4:30-6:00 p.m. Lane Writers. Readings by local authors. River Road Annex.
  • February/March, 2019, Neighborhood Planning Public Event. More info to come. 

Disclaimer: The RR CRG weekly messages are my personal views and interpretation of community events and neighborhood planning efforts. I am not a Board member of RRCO (River Road Community Organization); SCRRIPT (Santa Clara-River Road Implementation Planning Team) has transitioned leadership to the Community Advisory Committee (CAC); and I have never been a City employee.

Carleen Reilly has lived in the neighborhood for over 40 years. She served on the RRCO board of directors from 2007-2013, and has been involved over the years with the Joint Strategy Team (JuST), the Santa Clara-River Road Outreach and Learning project (SCRROL), and the Santa Clara-River Road Implementation Planning Team (SCRRIPT)

She publishes a weekly e-newsletter called “River Road Community Resource Group Newsletter” that focuses on land use, transportation, parks and open spaces, economic development, and Community interests as they are related to our Neighborhood Planning activities in conjunction with the Santa Clara neighborhood. If you would like to subscribe you can contact Carleen at: carleenr |at| gmail dot com.

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Affordable Housing Proposals Review Opportunity

When: Tuesday, December 11th from 7:00pm to 8:30pm

Where: Emerald Park in the River Road Parks and Recreation building, room E.

This will be an event where potential developers of the Affordable Housing Site, at River Road and East Maynard, will share there proposals for the City of Eugene’s request for proposal process. The final project will be chosen by the evaluation committee. Pat Reilly is our neighborhood representative for the evaluation committee and will be at this event. This is an opportunity for community members to review three proposals and e-mail Pat with any feedback before the selection on December 14th. Developers will be sharing how they incorporated the community’s suggested design criteria in their proposals.

Pat can be contacted at patreilly6 [at] gmail dot com

Below is a URL to access the proposals if you cant make the meeting and would still like to provide Feedback.

https://www.eugene-or.gov/4048/Housing-and-Rehabilitation-Programs

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River Road Community Update #191

By Carleen Reilly

The world goes on, even when you’re sick. Pat and I are still coughing after almost 2 weeks of dealing with this bug. I missed a few meetings, but when I re-entered the world of meetings, it was a whirlwind. And the week isn’t over yet. I hope I haven’t missed some significant pieces of information.

Neighborhood Planning Council Work Session. Monday evening, November 19, the City Council got a NP progress report after a presentation from the Sustainability Commission. Feedback from all Councilors was very good. Claire Syrette gave ‘heaps of praise’ for our work; and Chris Pryor commented on the trust between the neighborhood workers, and he added his trust in our NP leadership. Mike Clark had questions about the percent of the City’s buildable lands that are in RR/SC and integration of ‘Clear and Objective’ planning while protecting agricultural land and having sufficient buildable land remaining to build housing to meet our needs. No definitive answers were given, and they were left for further research. Our NP is not far enough along the road to surface the exact nature of our housing needs and lands available for building. You can view these Council meetings online. It’s about a 30 minute presentation. We left the meeting feeling very good about our neighborhood leaders, Kate Perle and Louisa de Heer, and Eric Brown, our City planner.

Meetings with Service Districts and Providers of Public Services. A series of meetings are set up with our service providers and service districts. Meetings have been held with the River Road Park and Recreation District and River Road Water District. Meetings are planned with County Sheriff Captain and Eugene Police representative; Santa Clara Fire Department; Eugene-Springfield Fire Department; Santa Clara Water District, and perhaps others as they are requested. 

A few of us are working on Goal 18, which states: “Provide comprehensive public services responsive to the needs of the community.” We decided that we needed to take the draft policy statements and actions to those who serve our needs before we take it to the Policy Round Up on December 5.

We are reminding them that the plan is for 20 years in the future, and we have to try to anticipate changes in our neighborhoods, changes in the way public services might be delivered, and consider the fact that as taxes continue to go up, people will be asking us to eliminate redundant services and be efficient with tax dollars. This draft lays out some ways to transition as neighborhoods evolve and service delivery becomes more centralized.

It was exciting for Jerry Finigan and me to visit with Mike Gerot and Steve Norris of the River Road Water District. Here are a few things I noted from the meeting. RR Water is responsible for 3 areas: delivery of water, maintaining street lights, and contracting with the City for fire services. I learned that street light maintenance is funded through water sales. In addition, the Water District has recently contacted with the City of Eugene to do the actual street light repairs. They reported that this relationship is working really well, and they are pleased with the City’s work. For your information, if you see a street light that is burned out, contact EWEB, and they will report it to the City for repair.

We asked what was looming on the horizon that might be of concern to the Water District. EWEB’s project to find a secondary water source was concerning as it might be more expensive for our neighbors than they would be willing to pay. But EWEB has backtracked on that project in favor of establishing water reserves for emergency purposes in neighborhoods. River Road is fortunate to have a water reserve sited at our new Howard Elementary School. That makes a lot of sense to me as it would become a community center for us to all work out of when we experience a disaster.

The other item is the plan to install electronic metering. This is not of the magnitude of the secondary water source. Mr. Gerot priced it at about $1 million and said they have sufficient funding to handle it.

Maintenance of water lines is ongoing, and they take a proactive approach to getting the job done. They depend on EWEB to detect leakage that demands repair. The life of water meters is about 10 – 15 years, so there is a continual changing out of meters. If electronic meters were installed, we would know about leaks sooner. Ultimately, electronic meters would save us money.

“Trust is maintained with neighbors by providing good service delivery.” This was a good note to end our conversation on.

Transportation Goals, Policies, and Actions. Last night, the CAC met to review and edit the Draft Transportation Goals. This topic is of major concern to nearly all of our neighbors because of congestion, safety, and the need to encompass new transportation trends that appear to be arriving sooner than we expected. This is a very big topic, and the CAC worked through the drafts as much as they could with the plan to further polish them between now and the presentation at the December 5 Policy Round Up at North Eugene High School from 6:00 to 8:00. 

The City Council will meet on November 26 to discuss transportation system development charges and incentives. This could be a useful tool in building out our River Road corridor according to our desires. Learning how this works could be interesting and useful.

Delta Construction. There has been some community consternation regarding the construction taking place on Delta Highway and the congestion on streets that have to take up the slack. You could save yourself a little grief by looking at TripCheck.com to see if there is a better way to get there.

If you want an overview of what is going on, look at this website.
https://www.oregon.gov/odot/projects/pages/project-details.aspx?project=18577

Plastics Round Up. The last round up of plastics for recycling went very well, but efforts are being made to be more efficient. Volunteers are needed to sign up as Community Collectors, where neighbors can take plastics over a 3 or 4 month period. Contact Kelly Bell for information to be a Community Collector or volunteer in other ways.  
Kelly.bell@co.lane.or.us – (541) 682-2059

Calendar

  • TUESDAY, November 27, 2018, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Community Advisory Committee and interested neighbors. Draft Land Use Goals, Policies and Actions. North Eugene High School Library.
  • WEDNESDAY, December 5, 2018, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Neighborhood Planning ROUND UP of draft policies. Report to neighbors on work in progress. North Eugene High School, Cafeteria.
  • THURSDAY, December 6, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Eugene-Portland Rail Public Comment, Preferred alignment. http://www.oregonpassengerrail.org/ Eugene Public Library.
  • SATURDAY, December 8, 9:00 to Noon. Rasor Park Work Party.  A major wildflower planting party for the year. RSVP at friendsofrasorpark@gmail.com or their Facebook page for more details.
  • MONDAY, December 10, 7:00 to 8:30, RRCO Holiday Dessert Potluck, River Road Annex, 1055 River Road.
  • TUESDAY, December 11, 7pm to 8:30pm. Chance to review Affordable Housing proposals at Emerald Park in the River Road Parks and Recreation building, room E.
  • FRIDAY, December 14, 2:30 to 5:00. River Road Affordable Housing Evaluation Committee. Will meet and discuss scores of the Request for Proposals.
  • LATE JANUARY, 2019, Neighborhood Planning Public Event. More info to come.

Don’t eat too much on Thanksgiving!

Disclaimer: The RR CRG weekly messages are my personal views and interpretation of community events and neighborhood planning efforts. I am not a Board member of RRCO (River Road Community Organization); SCRRIPT (Santa Clara-River Road Implementation Planning Team) has transitioned leadership to the Community Advisory Committee (CAC); and I have never been a City employee.

Carleen Reilly has lived in the neighborhood for over 40 years. She served on the RRCO board of directors from 2007-2013, and has been involved over the years with the Joint Strategy Team (JuST), the Santa Clara-River Road Outreach and Learning project (SCRROL), and the Santa Clara-River Road Implementation Planning Team (SCRRIPT)

She publishes a weekly e-newsletter called “River Road Community Resource Group Newsletter” that focuses on land use, transportation, parks and open spaces, economic development, and Community interests as they are related to our Neighborhood Planning activities in conjunction with the Santa Clara neighborhood. If you would like to subscribe you can contact Carleen at: carleenr |at| gmail dot com.

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River Road Community Update #187

By Carleen Reilly

Fall tips.

Drain irrigation systems. I asked Pat this morning if there was anything I should write about in this morning’s CRG, and he asked me to remind neighbors to drain their irrigation system so the system doesn’t freeze and lines burst. This tip comes from experience!

Leaf Pick up. A new neighbor asked me what to do with Fall leaves. First, the City and County have a leaf pick up schedule. Here’s a link. As I look at this schedule, River Road and Santa Clara are not going to have pick up until December 1 and 2. In my mind, that is much too late. Everyone is raking now because the leaves are dry and easier to rake up.

Second, a myriad uses for leaves are available: pile them on your raised beds and gardens; load them on a truck and deliver for composing to Lane Forest Products near to our neighborhood (about $4 a load, depending on the size of truck); find a friend who is composting or has a big garden to pile them on. Those nutrients are great to put back in our soils.

Ban Plastics. As a point of personal privilege, I want to cheer the European Union for banning single-use plastics by 2021. A statement struck home with me was that if no action is taken, by 2050 more plastic would be in the oceans than there are fish! How incredibly awful! Here’s a quote about the planned ban from the BBC.

“The European Parliament has voted for a complete ban on a range of single-use plastics across the union in a bid to stop pollution of the oceans.
MEPs backed a ban on plastic cutlery and plates, cotton buds, straws, drink-stirrers and balloon sticks.”

The EU hopes to fully implement the ban by 2021, but there is no reason we can’t just quit using these now! I am pleased that RRCO and many city events utilize Lane County’s or Eugene’s dishware lending service by providing tubbies of dishes and eating utensils for gathering rather than using throw-away utensils.

Here is the link to the county reuseable dishware program, which is more comprehensive than the city program.

If you are having a party and don’t have enough dishes and utensils, make arrangements with the county or city so you don’t have to throw out anything but scraps of food, which are compostable. If your organization wants to build tubbies of utensils, Kelly Bell at Lane County Recycling will assist you in scavenging for plates, bowls, cups, napkins, and eating utensils. (Kelly.BELL@co.lane.or.us)

The County also has recycling bins available for your event. If you are holding a large event, the Lane County Master Recyclers can provide volunteers to help sort various materials for recycling and composting.

Tree Pruning Demo & Mulching. October 27, 10:00 a.m.
Hosted by Jen Hornaday and Eugene Parks and Open Space, two certified arborists will demonstrate tree pruning. Trees in East Maynard Park will be mulched. Refreshments, tools, and gloves will be provided. Bring cardboard or newspapers, if you have any. Work parties by neighbors keep our parks pesticide and herbicide free. Follow East Maynard off of River Road to the West Bank Park. A small gravel area is available for parking. Bike transportation or bus are encouraged.

High(er) Speed Rail. As another point of privilege, most of you know that I have a penchant for transportation topics, and high speed rail is one item on my radar. I just received notice that a draft Environmental Impact Statement has selected a Preferred Alternative alignment. If you are interested, here is a link to learn more.

Meetings will be held between Portland and Eugene for public comment, or you can send in online comments. The Eugene meeting will be December 6, 2018, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m, Eugene Library. This is the last meeting in the series.

Affordable Housing. Our River Road project just north of the Dari Mart on Maynard is moving ahead, bit by bit. RRCO Board member extraordinaire Cameron Ewing honchoed quality outreach to neighbors and compiled an awesome document with details of what we value and amenities we want in affordable housing. Neighbors provided comprehensive information about parking concerns, access to gardening, green innovations desired, access to bike paths, opportunities for creative/artist participation, and on and on. If you want to see this document, let me know.

Three developers submitted letters to say they intend to submit proposals to potentially develop the River Road site. The proposals will be submitted November 15 and posted on the City’s website. The Evaluation Committee will meet December 12 or 14 to review the proposals.

Calendar

  • WEDNESDAY, October 24, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Community Advisory Committee PLUS interested neighbors, Reviewing neighbors’ information and draft policies about Parks and Open Spaces. Peace Presbyterian Church, Santa Clara.
  • SATURDAY, October 27, 10:00 to 1:00 p.m Tree pruning workshop at East Maynard Park.
  • THURSDAY, November 1, 7:00 p.m. Santa Clara Community Organization. Messiah Lutheran Church.
  • TUESDAY, November 6. VOTE!
  • MONDAY, November 12, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. RRCO General Membership meeting, Integration of Neighborhood Planning and Eugene’s Climate Action Plan. River Road Annex, 1055 River Road.
  • SATURDAY, November 17, 11:00 to 2:00 p.m. Filbert Grove Work Party. Tools and snacks provided.
  • MONDAY, November 19, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., RRCO Board meeting. River Road Annex, 1055 River Road.
  • TUESDAY, November 20, Community Advisory Committee, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. NEHS Library.
  • MONDAY, November 26?, At the Kiosk at Hillcrest, work party to remove knapweed.
  • THURSDAY, December 6, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Eugene Public Library
  • MONDAY, December 10, 7:00 to 8:30, RRCO Holiday Dessert Potluck, River Road Annex, 1055 River Road.
  • December, Neighborhood Planning Celebration. More information coming your way.


Disclaimer: The RR CRG weekly messages are my personal views and interpretation of community events and neighborhood planning efforts. I am not a Board member of RRCO (River Road Community Organization); SCRRIPT (Santa Clara-River Road Implementation Planning Team) has transitioned leadership to the Community Advisory Committee (CAC); and I have never been a City employee.

Carleen Reilly has lived in the neighborhood for over 40 years. She served on the RRCO board of directors from 2007-2013, and has been involved over the years with the Joint Strategy Team (JuST), the Santa Clara-River Road Outreach and Learning project (SCRROL), and the Santa Clara-River Road Implementation Planning Team (SCRRIPT)

She publishes a weekly e-newsletter called “River Road Community Resource Group Newsletter” that focuses on land use, transportation, parks and open spaces, economic development, and Community interests as they are related to our Neighborhood Planning activities in conjunction with the Santa Clara neighborhood. If you would like to subscribe you can contact Carleen at: carleenr |at| gmail dot com.

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Tree Pruning Demonstration and Mulching Work Party

When: Saturday, October 27th, 10:00am to 1:00pm
 
Where: East Maynard Park. 
 
Directions: Follow East Maynard (off of River Road) to West Bank Park. There will be a small gravel area for parking at the end of East Maynard. Bike transportation is encouraged if possible. 
 
Jen Hornaday and the City of Eugene Parks will be hosting a work party at East Maynard Park on Saturday, October 27th from 10:00am to 1:00pm. 
 
Two certified arborists from City of Eugene Parks and Rec will be doing tree pruning demonstrations to pass on valuable skills to volunteers. In addition, we will be mulching trees in East Maynard Park. 
 
-Snacks and light refreshments will be provided. 
 
-Tools and gloves will be provided
 
-Please bring any cardboard or newspapers that you might have. 
 
This will be a fun and educational event, but most importantly, these types of efforts are what allows us to keep West Bank Park pesticide and herbicide free. 
 
For those of you receiving this email that have volunteer lists of your own please pass on this information. For those of you that might just know of someone who might be interested in this event please feel free to forward this e-mail. 
 
Thank you all for your support and willingness to put in the work to keep west bank park chemical free!
 
Cheers,
 
-Cameron Ewing
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River Road Community Update #183

By Carleen Reilly

Guess what I found in our raised bed: a half-dozen large, ripe raspberries. And were they ever yummy! There are more to come, too!

MovingAhead. It was like old home week last night at the LTD Open House to review the options for all potential EmX Corridors, including our River Road Corridor. It was good to see so many of our neighbors, all diligently voting with their dots and taking time to submit comments about Transportation ideas.

If you weren’t able to attend the RR Corridor open house, additional open houses are available for you to participate in. ALL corridor options are available at all open houses. Here is a link to the MovingAhead website.

Or submit your comments on line: MovingAhead Online Open House

As one person essentially said to me, “Let’s just bite the bullet and install EmX to begin with; because, if we don’t, we will just have to go back and upgrade it in a few years. Let’s get the job done right the first time.”

Working Groups. The MovingAhead open house is a good foundation for the Transportation group as we hold our Neighborhood Planning Working Groups Thursday evening. (Details in calendar.) So many of our ideas about improving safety and reducing vehicle emissions will be addressed with the implementation of increased transit services.

The expectation is that a finalized list of goals in all five topic areas will be completed at this meeting and that we will review the many policies and actions Working Groups are proposing. We hope you can be there to advance our Neighborhood Plan activities to the next level.

WE CAN Eugene. Walkable Eugene Citizens Advisory Network is an ad hoc group interested in Housing and Transportation Activities. You can sign up for their e-mail list at this link.

They keep track of City Council meetings and agendas. WE CAN provides commentary about work on these housing and transportation in various governmental entities. I find their summaries helpful. I can e-mail you the full message if you are interested. Current info is about MovingAhead, Housing Tools and Strategies, Accessory Dwelling Units, Envision Eugene Technical Advisory Committee/Urban Reserves, Clear and Objective Standards, and RR/SC Neighborhood Plan.

Here is a tidbit from a recent e-mail:
Upcoming At City Council
Eugene City Council identified housing affordability as a key goal for 2018; and transportation remains an important focus. As they return from summer break, what is on the agenda related to housing and transportation for the fall?

  • Monday, October 15th: Work session on Transportation System Development Charge Methodology, Transit Tomorrow Update
  • Wednesday, October 31st: River Road/Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan Update [This seems to be advanced information that I haven’t seen before. I’ll keep an eye on this. Halloween might be a problematic date.]
  • Monday, November 26th: Clear and Objective Housing Approval Criteria Work Session
  • Monday, December 10th: Housing Tools and Strategies Work Session

Calendar

  • TUESDAY, September 27, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. NP Working Groups, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, 4110 River Road in Santa Clara. Finalize a list of goals for each topic area. Bring homework from small groups to continue policy and action work.
  • FRIDAY, September 28. Happy GOOD NEIGHBOR DAY! The holiday was first proclaimed by Pres. Jimmy Carter in 1978.
  • SUNDAY, September 30, 10:00 to 2:00 Plastics round up. Is anyone planning for neighborhood collection rather than hundreds of vehicles showing up to drop off 3 boxes each? Lane County Waste Management is hosting a collection event at the Glenwood Transfer station, 3100 E 17th Ave., for a SPECIFIC list of household plastics that were dropped from local recycle programs. Go to: www.lanecounty.org/plasticsroundup to learn what is ACCEPTED and how materials must be PREPARED and SORTED for collection day.
  • SUNDAY, October 7, RRCO Pancake Breakfast. Cancelled.
  • SUNDAY, October 7, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Film Showing: Under the Bridge: The Criminalization of Homelessness. River Road Annex, 1055 River Road.
  • WEDNESDAY, October 10, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Making it Happen! Open House. The Planning Division is hosting a project fair showcasing all ongoing Envision Eugene implementation projects. See how our neighborhood planning fits into the larger picture. Eugene Library, Bascom-Tykeson Room, 1st Floor.
  • MONDAY, October 15, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Film Showing: Under the Bridge: The Criminalization of Homelessness. Emerald Park, Lake Drive.
  • MONDAY, October 8, 7:00 p.m. River Road Community Organization, General Membership Meeting, River Road Annex, 1055 River Road. November Ballot Measures and other election items.
  • TUESDAY, October 16, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Neighborhood Planning Community Advisory Committee. North Eugene High School Library.


Disclaimer: The RR CRG weekly messages are my personal views and interpretation of community events and neighborhood planning efforts. I am not a Board member of RRCO (River Road Community Organization); SCRRIPT (Santa Clara-River Road Implementation Planning Team) has transitioned leadership to the Community Advisory Committee (CAC); and I have never been a City employee.

Carleen Reilly has lived in the neighborhood for over 40 years. She served on the RRCO board of directors from 2007-2013, and has been involved over the years with the Joint Strategy Team (JuST), the Santa Clara-River Road Outreach and Learning project (SCRROL), and the Santa Clara-River Road Implementation Planning Team (SCRRIPT)

She publishes a weekly e-newsletter called “River Road Community Resource Group Newsletter” that focuses on land use, transportation, parks and open spaces, economic development, and Community interests as they are related to our Neighborhood Planning activities in conjunction with the Santa Clara neighborhood. If you would like to subscribe you can contact Carleen at: carleenr |at| gmail dot com.

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River Road Community Update #181

By Carleen Reilly

Weather forecasters say we might have rain west of the Cascades today. It sure would help our firefighters.

Neighborhood Plan (NP) Outreach. Thanks to Louisa and Louie for volunteering to carry clipboards at the Promenade on Sunday. If you know someone isn’t signed up for e-mails, direct them to Louisa and Louie for information about why they need to sign up. If you know of events we need to attend, be sure to let me know: community dinners, garage sales, river or park clean up events, public meetings, you name it.

Focus groupsNP Working Groups. Because I am signed up for two transportation goals, you may hear more from me about how transportation policies are proceeding. You can look on the project website under “Topic Areas” to see compilations of comments from neighbors this fall that working groups are translating into policies and actions. It is mind-breaking work to encapsulate ideas into policies and develop objective, measurable actions. If this is your forte, you can still join in our work. (See the NP sign up link below to ‘Get Involved.’) We will hold another working group on September 27 to finalize draft goals and work on policies and actions coming out of working groups.

Transit. The September 11 Register-Guard had an article on potential projects in transit corridors in the next decade. An online survey is available for comments if you are unable to attend a corridor open house. It will be available until October 10.

The article cites the River Road Corridor as an example, but it doesn’t give the details of the other corridors to get a comparison.

“For example, the analysis estimates that extending EmX service along River Road would cost $78 million to build and $2 million a year to operate, shave eight minutes off the corridor’s existing transit time and displace six homes or businesses.”

What this statement doesn’t say is that EmX would shorten your wait time. It may only shave off 8 minutes of travel time, but it may also shave off several minutes of wait time because EmX arrives every 10 minutes. I know I have currently waited at the bus stop for 20 minutes for the next bus to come.

Neighborhood demographics. The Community Advisory Committee met last night, and a major topic was demographics of River Road and Santa Clara. We looked at age groups, minorities, housing trends, transit trends, neighborhood livability, and on and on. Demographics will shape our NP decision making, whether we are designing roads for families or seniors; cars or bikes; single-family housing or multi-family apartments.

On a related topic, in the Monday, September 10 Register Guard, they looked at Lane County in comparison with other counties and statewide. One citation was that the median household income of Lane County ranks 19th at $45,222, which is well below the statewide median of $53,270. [I did correct the R-G statement to ‘statewide median.’ The R-G stated that it was the ‘average’ household income for the state.] http://www.tfff.org/sites/default/files/OregonByTheNumbers2018.pdf This fact goes a long way toward explaining why housing is so unaffordable to our community members.

Another demographic chart caught my eye. It was posted on Mayor Lucy Vinis’s Facebook page about large differences in life expectancy between various neighborhoods. I was quite surprised and pleased to see large blocks of increased life expectancy in Santa Clara. River Road didn’t stack up quite so well–closer to the middle of the pack, but definitely better than some other blocks of Eugene.

“People who live northeast of the railroad tracks in the River Road area will statistically live 8 years longer than their neighbors to the southwest in the Bethel neighborhood…”

This is a very short article and an easy to understand map about life expectancy.

Calendar

  • SUNDAY, September 16, 2018. 3:00 – 6:00. Promenade. Rosetta Park at Benjamin & Evergreen.
  • TUESDAY, September 25, 5:30 – 7:30, p.m., Moving Ahead – River Road Corridor, Colin Kelly Middle School, 850 Howard Ave, Cafeteria. www.movingahead.org.
  • TUESDAY, September 27, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. NP Working Groups, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, 4110 River Road in Santa Clara. Finalize a draft of the goals for each topic area. Bring homework from small groups to continue policy and action work.
  • SUNDAY, September 30, 10:00 to 2:00 Plastics round up. Is anyone planning for neighborhood collection rather than hundreds of vehicles showing up to drop off 3 boxes each? Lane County Waste Management is hosting a collection event at the Glenwood Transfer station, 3100 E 17th Ave., for a SPECIFIC list of household plastics that were dropped from local recycle programs. Go to: www.lanecounty.org/plasticsroundup to learn what is ACCEPTED and how materials must be PREPARED and SORTED for collection day.
  • SUNDAY, October 7, Time TBA. RRCO Pancake Breakfast. Emerald Park on Lake Dr.
  • SUNDAY, October 7, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Film Showing: Under the Bridge: The Criminalization of Homelessness. River Road Annex, 1055 River Road.
  • WEDNESDAY, October 10, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Making it Happen! Open House. The Planning Division is hosting a project fair showcasing all ongoing Envision Eugene implementation projects. See how our neighborhood planning fits into the larger picture. Eugene Library, Bascom-Tykeson Room, 1st Floor.
  • MONDAY, October 15, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Film Showing: Under the Bridge: The Criminalization of Homelessness. Emerald Park, Lake Drive.
  • TUESDAY, October 16, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Community Advisory Committee. Location to be announced.

Disclaimer: The RR CRG weekly messages are my personal views and interpretation of community events and neighborhood planning efforts. I am not a Board member of RRCO (River Road Community Organization); SCRRIPT (Santa Clara-River Road Implementation Planning Team) has transitioned leadership to the Community Advisory Committee (CAC); and I have never been a City employee.

Carleen Reilly has lived in the neighborhood for over 40 years. She served on the RRCO board of directors from 2007-2013, and has been involved over the years with the Joint Strategy Team (JuST), the Santa Clara-River Road Outreach and Learning project (SCRROL), and the Santa Clara-River Road Implementation Planning Team (SCRRIPT)

She publishes a weekly e-newsletter called “River Road Community Resource Group Newsletter” that focuses on land use, transportation, parks and open spaces, economic development, and Community interests as they are related to our Neighborhood Planning activities in conjunction with the Santa Clara neighborhood. If you would like to subscribe you can contact Carleen at: carleenr |at| gmail dot com.

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River Road Community Update #178

By Carleen Reilly

It is hard for me to believe it is late August. You know all the cliches about ‘Where did summer go?’ That big turkey on my deck yesterday was a bit startling–looking in the window as I sat typing at the computer. Was that an omen?

Neighborhood Planning (NP). Thanks to Ali Litts, Cameron Ewing, and Joshua Kielas for carrying clipboards on short notice at recent events. Signing people up for regular NP e-mails is crucial to the success of our work. If you are having a garage sale or going to a neighborhood event, I can supply you with a clipboard with information about our NP project. Let me know of your availability to help with outreach.

Arrg! Speaking of signing up for regular e-mails, it appears that some people were inadvertently unsubscribed from the list–including myself. If you did not receive the August 9 or August 13 invitation to the Working Group on August 28, 6:00 to 8:00, you may have been unsubscribed. You can resubscribe by going to the link https://www.eugene-or.gov/3667/Get-Involved.

Working Groups. The upcoming meeting will be held at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Santa Clara, 4110 River Road, from 6:00 to 8:00. New Location!

This working group meeting will set the stage for you to do three things over the next few months:

  1. Review the draft goals of the plan, which will be developed by the Community Advisory Committee at their next meeting
  2. Write draft policies for the neighborhood plan, and
  3. Identify action items to implement the plan

A group exercise will help prepare you to do this work on your own, or in small groups, between August 28th and the next working group meeting in late September.

Please RSVP so we know how many copies of materials to prepare.

Business Outreach. If you know of businesses that would like to engage with other businesses and be informed about NP, let us know. Economic Development is one of our five areas to learn about and incorporate in our plan.

RRCO news. Here are some small morsels gleaned from Monday evening’s RRCO Board meeting. Perhaps you can keep an eye on them to see how they progress.

  • The Goodwill Building has a for lease to retail sign in the window. Do you know anyone who wants to try a start up?
  • The RRCO Board still has a vacant seat. Are you interested?
  • The EUG-ART404 will be working with Cameron Ewing on an art project near the Chamber Connector to welcome people to our neighborhood. Calling all artists and would be artists! Exercise your creative urges.

Calendar

  • WEDNESDAY, August 22, 7:00 p.m. Affordable Housing project, Dayspring Fellowship Church, 1580 River Road. Neighborhood meeting for property planned for affordable housing, north of River Road Dari Mart.
  • SATURDAY, August 25, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Affordable Housing Listening Session. River Road Annex, 1050 River Road. Attendees will prioritize a list of good ideas so the property can be developed appropriate to our needs.
  • August 28, 2018, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. NP Working Groups, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, 4110 River Road.
  • MONDAY, September 10, 2018. 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. RRCO General Membership Meeting, River Road Annex, 1050 River Road.
  • TUESDAY, September 11, 2018 (Subject to change.) NP Community Advisory Council. Location to be announced later.
  • TUESDAY, September 25, 5:30 – 7:30, p.m., Moving Ahead – River Road Corridor, Colin Kelly Middle School, 850 Howard Ave, Cafeteria.

Disclaimer: The RR CRG weekly messages are my personal views and interpretation of community events and neighborhood planning efforts. I am not a Board member of RRCO (River Road Community Organization); SCRRIPT (Santa Clara-River Road Implementation Planning Team) has transitioned leadership to the Community Advisory Committee (CAC); and I have never been a City employee.

Carleen Reilly has lived in the neighborhood for over 40 years. She served on the RRCO board of directors from 2007-2013, and has been involved over the years with the Joint Strategy Team (JuST), the Santa Clara-River Road Outreach and Learning project (SCRROL), and the Santa Clara-River Road Implementation Planning Team (SCRRIPT)

She publishes a weekly e-newsletter called “River Road Community Resource Group Newsletter” that focuses on land use, transportation, parks and open spaces, economic development, and Community interests as they are related to our Neighborhood Planning activities in conjunction with the Santa Clara neighborhood. If you would like to subscribe you can contact Carleen at: carleenr |at| gmail dot com.

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