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:
- Review the draft goals of the plan, which will be developed by the Community Advisory Committee at their next meeting
- Write draft policies for the neighborhood plan, and
- 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.