============================================================ Health Options Digest December 15, 2002 Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield ============================================================ * EDITOR'S LETTER * NEWS SUMMARY * CALENDAR 1.sn - Tue 12/17 - Springfield Planning Commission * PEOPLE SPEAK OUT ON NEW HOSPITAL 2.rg - A good site for hospital 3.rg - Blame council, not mayor 4.rg - Rules weren't changed 5.rg - Sacred Heart an asset 6.rg - Let Arlie participate 7.rg - Where does fault lie? 8.sn - Don't make zone changes lightly 9.rg - Speak out on hospital 10.sn - RiverBend site is perfect for hospital 11.rg - Eugene's advice unneeded 12.sn - PulsePoll: Approval of PeaceHealth amendments? * PEACEHEALTH SALARIES AND NAME 13.rg - Living wage: the 'right' and 'smart' thing 14.rg - Moniker changed to lessen ill image * OTHER HOSPITALS 15.rg - Central Oregon hospitals launch expansion plans * OTHER DEVELOPMENT 16.rg - Tight quarters: Innovative Eugene project shoehorns homes next to Interstate 5 17.rg - Springfield gives break to Symantec 18.sn - Springfield City Council extends tax benefits to Symantec 19.sn - Council to vote on zoning amendments for new sports complex Monday 20.rg - Rezonings put sports complex midtown 21.sn - Zoning changes clear way for complex * TRANSPORTATION ISSUES 22.sn - Road hard: City councilors consider transportation fee, local gas tax 23.rg - Cities debate charging for roads 24.rg - Councils vote 'yes' on road fees 25.sn - City Council approves monthly road fee * OTHER NEWS 26.rg - A fish's island paradise: A survey finds many species around the McKenzie River spot 27.sn - City servants: City bids Councilors Lundberg and Simmons farewell * KEY, CREDITS, MORE INFO ===================== Editor's Letter ==================== The flood of news continues, with the 27 stories this week almost atching last week's high-water mark of 29 stories. CHOICES hopes to help you handle this flood of news by providing a weekly News Summary. If your time is short, you can read the summary in just a few minutes a week. In this space, CHOICES also hopes to help you by interpreting the news, i.e., by trying to highlight the significance of different news stories and how they might relate to each other. Let's try to connect together a few of the dots: * The nonprofit PeaceHealth gave its top four employees a combined raise of more than $650,000 last year. * PeaceHealth, a $735 million business that operates six hospitals in three states, won't be calling itself a corporation any longer but will refer to iself as a "health system." * The City of Springfield handed Symantec Corp. an early Christmas present: a four-year property tax break worth an estimated $1.8 million that the city was under no legal obligation to give. * The Eugene and Springfield councils voted Monday to charge citizens for the upkeep of streets and to move forward in January with a likely 3-cent gasoline tax. * Former Springfield Mayor Bill Morrisette wrote that he feels "PeaceHealth is more concerned with the bottom line and will attempt to maximize commercial profits at the expense of livability." Meanwhile, plans for a new hospital near Gateway hinge on finding $122 million to reconstruct the Beltline/I-5 interchange and the Beltline/Gateway intersection at a time when the State of Oregon is looking to slash schools, public safety, the Oregon Health Plan and other essential state programs. And Springfield's own hospital, McKenzie-Willamette, continues to struggle to stay in business in the face of competition from PeaceHealth. So what's the connection? As Deep Thoat, the famous anonymous source on the 1972 Watergate breakin, once said: Follow the money. Health care in America is big, big business. As citizens, it is our responsibility to weigh business interests against the broader interests of the community. A healthy community is one that not only has access to qulaity health care for the ill but that also provides healthy, livable neighborshoods for all, supports a healthy discussion of issues of concern the the whole community, and protects the health of the natural environment that distinguishes our community from most others. Let the Springfield Planning Commission know what you think about allowing PeaceHealth to build a new $350-million hospital in the Gateway area. Submit written comments BY DECEMBER 31: Springfield Planning Commission c/o Colin Stephens Springfield Development Services Department 225 Fifth St., Springfield, OR 97477 Email: cstephens@ci.springfield.or.us Voice: 726-3759 Fax: 726-3689 Rob Zako, Editor 343-5201 rzako@efn.org ====================== News Summary ====================== On Tuesday, the Springfield Planning Commission will continue a public hearing on PeaceHealth's requests to amend the Metro Plan diagram and Gateway Refinement Plan diagram and text to allow for a regional hospital in the Gateway area (#1). In letters to the editor, citizens argued both for and against PeaceHealth's plans (#2 - #11). State Rep. Bob Ackerman faulted the Eugene City Council, excluding Mayor Torrey, for forcing PeaceHealth to try to relocate to Springfield (#3). Eugene City Councilor responded that PeaceHealth appears to have already decided to leave Eugene before the city council took any action (#4). And State Senator Bill Morrisette wrote that his support for the PeaceHealth project is contingent upon Arlie's full participation in nodal (village) development (#6). Of the 76 people who responded to an unscientific web-based poll run by The Springfield News, 40% support the zoning changes proposed by PeaceHealth and 60% oppose them (#12). The nonprofit PeaceHealth -- an organization whose practices affect many of our pockets much more profoundly than city contractors -- gave its top four employees a combined raise of more than $650,000 last year, or almost as much as the entire living wage proposal (#13). PeaceHealth, a $735 million business that operates six hospitals in three states, won't be calling itself a corporation any longer but will refer to iself as a "health system" (#14). Hospitals around Central Oregon are feeling a crunch and struggling to keep up with a growing population by building new facilities and expanding old ones (#15). Developer Norm Fogelstrom is turning a 14-acre, 425-foot-wide strip wedged between Interstate 5 and a high-voltage power line into an upscale 107-unit subdivision (#16). The Springfield City Council on Monday handed Symantec Corp. an early Christmas present: a four-year property tax break worth an estimated $1.8 million that the city was under no legal obligation to give (#17, #18). The City Council on Monday unanimously approved rezonings to build a sports complex in midtown and to use the formerly planned site in the Gateway area for industry (#19, #20, #21). The Eugene and Springfield councils voted Monday to charge citizens for the upkeep of streets and to move forward in January with a likely 3-cent gasoline tax (#22, #23, #24, #25). The McKenzie River Trust is working to map the ecological value of the island just downstream from Harvest Landing, next to the property where PeaceHealth wants to build its new hospital complex, with the hope of establishing a conservation easement or other means or protection (#26). Out-going City Councilors Christine Lundberg and Fred Simmons received an array of goodbye gifts Thursday at a going-away party in their honor (#27). ======================== Calendar ======================== ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.sn - Tue 12/17 - Springfield Planning Commission ------------------------------------------------------------ Tuesday 7 p.m. -- Planning Commission regular meeting, City Council Chambers, City Hall, 225 Fifth St. * Public hearing on zone change requests by Shaw/Hammer for property at 18th Street and Mohawk Boulevard * Public hearing on PeaceHealth's requests for zone changes on property in the Gateway area. Ed. Note: The public hearing on the PeaceHealth zone changes is a continuation from December 3. ONLY PEOPLE WHO SIGNED UP TO TESTIFY ON DECEMBER 3 BUT DID NOT DO SO MAY TESTIFY IN PERSON ON DECEMBER 17. Written testimony will be accepted until December 31: Springfield Planning Commission c/o Colin Stephens Springfield Development Services Department 225 Fifth St., Springfield, OR 97477 Email: cstephens@ci.springfield.or.us Voice: 726-3759 Fax: 726-3689 http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2002/12/13/calendar/news1.txt ============ People Speak Out on New Hospital ============ ------------------------------------------------------------ 2.rg - A good site for hospital ------------------------------------------------------------ Zane Smith and Betty Smith, Springfield Letter to The Register-Guard, 12/8/02 We support the zoning changes necessary to facilitate PeaceHealth's new hospital at River Bend in Springfield, for the following reasons: 1. The RiverBend site is within the city limits of Springfield and is a matter for Springfield officials, not Eugene or state officials. 2. RiverBend is within the urban growth boundary, and the attempt to establish a buffer zone inside that boundary is inappropriate. 3. The zoning of land should reflect current circumstances and adapt accordingly. The proposed change from medium residential to light commercial reflects the current need for growth and the desirability of diversity. 4. Access to the McKenzie River is more likely to improve under PeaceHealth's plan; PeaceHealth has expressed its intent to provide public access. 5. The contention that the zoning changes ignore potential flooding is incorrect. The area is above the 100-year flood plain and mostly above the 500-year flood plain. 6. The inclusion of a responsible development, such as PeaceHealth, will enhance the area's capability to manage and accommodate traffic in the Gateway and River Bend areas. 7. Finally, it is important to understand that the current location of the hospital in downtown Eugene is no longer an option. PeaceHealth has made every reasonable effort to consider alternative Eugene sites. It is now important to conclude this process and assure the continuation of both quality hospitals serving the Eugene-Springfield community. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/12/08/ed.letters.1208.html See also: http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2002/12/06/opinion/news2.txt ------------------------------------------------------------ 3.rg - Blame council, not mayor ------------------------------------------------------------ Robert L. Ackerman, State representative, District 14, Eugene Letter to The Register-Guard, 12/9/02 A Nov. 30 letter to the editor accused Mayor Jim Torrey and his minions of flouting state laws for "pork feeders" and "land speculators" in the establishment of the West Eugene Parkway and the relocation of Sacred Heart Hospital to Springfield. The record is quite different. A majority faction of the Eugene City Council, excluding the mayor, contributed to these results. The council placed two measures on the ballot regarding the parkway. One measure adopted the alignment of the parkway and favored the mitigation of wetlands. The alternative proposal favored a different transportation plan for the area and the preservation of the wetlands. The first proposal was passed. The second proposal failed. The conclusion of the voters was to build the parkway and mitigate, not preserve, the wetlands. The opponents were not satisfied with the outcome of the vote, so they commissioned an independent study of the parkway issues. To their apparent surprise, the consultants merely realigned the parkway route -- thereby conceding the merits of the parkway as a vital and necessary transportation project. The hospital issue follows the same format. A majority faction of the Eugene City Council, excluding the mayor, changed the rules for siting of the hospital in north Eugene, thereby forcing the hospital to locate in Springfield. These policy choices are not the result of "indefensible scheming" of Mayor Torrey. Development will result from these actions, which is vital for the diversification of our economic base and the creation of family wage jobs. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/12/09/ed.letters.1209.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 4.rg - Rules weren't changed ------------------------------------------------------------ David Kelly, Member, Eugene City Council, Eugene Letter to The Register-Guard, 12/15/02 Rep. Robert Ackerman (letters, Dec. 9) has every right to express his opinion about the Eugene City Council. He does not have the right, however, to misrepresent the facts. Contrary to Rep. Ackerman's assertion, the council never changed the rules for siting of the hospital in north Eugene. In June 2001, a council majority initiated a process that would include public hearings that might have ultimately changed the land use on the north Eugene parcel. At that point, PeaceHealth had submitted no plans to the city for the north Eugene site (and never did). PeaceHealth was also then in the middle of discussions with city staff and elected officials about possible expansion adjacent to its Hilyard site. Only six weeks after our June vote, once the council and PeaceHealth could not reach consensus regarding the Hilyard site, the council rescinded its earlier action -- even before a hearing was held -- and directed city staff to work with PeaceHealth to facilitate a hospital on the north Eugene site. Thus, not a single rule was ever changed, and we supported the Crescent site. If PeaceHealth had been serious about that site, it would have viewed the six-week period as nothing more than a small bump in the road. But, unbeknownst to the council or city staff, PeaceHealth had loaned John Musumeci $4.3 million at least two months before our June vote for his purchase and assembly of the RiverBend site in Springfield. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/12/15/ed.letters.1215.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 5.rg - Sacred Heart an asset ------------------------------------------------------------ Julie Brown, Eugene Letter to The Register-Guard, 12/10/02 Hey! Wake up, people of Eugene and Springfield! Sacred Heart Medical Center is an asset, not a liability! PeaceHealth should be wooed by local and state governments, not ostracized. We who live in this area are fortunate to have such a fine facility in our midst. If it were not for Sacred Heart Medical Center being easily assessable, we would need to go to San Francisco, Portland or Seattle to get the some of the diagnostic procedures we can get at Sacred Heart. There is much concern about traffic congestion with Sacred Heart's relocation to RiverBend. The same number of employees, patients and visitors who now use the hospital at 13th Avenue and Hilyard Street compete for streets and parking with more than 20,000 students and the faculty right next door at the University of Oregon. Now, that is congestion. There is much concern about access to the RiverBend site. I know of five different routes to get to Springfield's Pioneer Parkway from Eugene without driving on Interstate 5 or Belt Line Road. Residents of Cottage Grove, Creswell, Vida, Junction City, Coburg, Veneta and coastal towns can get to RiverBend more easily than they can get to the current site, thus eliminating some of the congestion in downtown Eugene. I encourage the Springfield Planning Commission to do all it can to help PeaceHealth built the new hospital at RiverBend. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/12/10/ed.letters.1210.html See also: http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2002/12/06/opinion/news2.txt ------------------------------------------------------------ 6.rg - Let Arlie participate ------------------------------------------------------------ Bill Morrisette, State Senator, District 6, Springfield Letter to The Register-Guard, 12/10/02 The Springfield Planning Commission met on Dec. 3 to consider amendments to the Gateway Refinement Plan which are fraught with dangerous assumptions. The ability of the area to absorb the kind of growth planned by PeaceHealth is questionable. My major concern is how the 33 acres of land zoned community commercial is developed and whether or not PeaceHealth controls the entire acreage. The July 1 annexation agreement signed with Arlie & Co. for 12.4 acres states "The Springfield City Council has identified this property as the appropriate site for mixed use nodal development ... ." The city has now decided that Arlie will no longer be allowed to participate in the nodal commercial development in the Gateway site, and this is wrong, I believe Arlie should own 12 of the 33 commercial acres if for no other reason than to keep PeaceHealth honest. Arlie was the party that originally envisioned this type of "village" approach which, at the time, PeaceHealth told me they did not favor. A self-contained village includes a major employer, commercial and retail offices, walking paths, open space and a combination of housing types -- it is referred to as "smart growth." Auto traffic in and out of the area would be minimized. I feel PeaceHealth is more concerned with the bottom line and will attempt to maximize commercial profits at the expense of livability. Arlie sees this archetypical new urbanism design as its signature statement of development in Springfield. Can Arlie be trusted? Yes indeed! The company has already donated almost $1 million in land to the city for other uses. My support for the PeaceHealth project is contingent upon Arlie's full participation in nodal (village) development. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/12/10/ed.letters.1210.html See also: http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2002/12/06/opinion/news2.txt ------------------------------------------------------------ 7.rg - Where does fault lie? ------------------------------------------------------------ Marybeth Marenco, Florence Letter to The Register-Guard, 12/10/02 I wonder if it has occurred to Alan Yordy, CEO of PeaceHealth Oregon, that Mark Radabaugh of the state Department of Land Conservation and Development may not be biased, but that in fact, the proposed RiverBend Development is just a bad idea. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/12/10/ed.letters.1210.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 8.sn - Don't make zone changes lightly ------------------------------------------------------------ Joan C. Armstead, Glenwood Letter to The Springfield News, 12/11/02 Dear Mayor Leiken: I have been keeping up with the PeachHealth/Gateway issues, specifically relating to the proposed amendments to the Gateway Refinement Plan. This is because I am a member of the Glenwood Refinement Plan Springfield Jurisdiction Committee of 1999, a Glenwood property owner of eight years and an Oregon resident for 18 years. I realize there are appropriate times for amendments, variances and modifications. I'm not so sure this is the time. It is significant that the city development process not only recognizes but also respects the refinement plans for which citizens have given their volunteer energy, commitment to their communities and belief in their government to adhere to the plan. I respect our state's land use laws and that they are included in our refinement plans. They are part of Oregon's uniqueness, my heritage and that of our children. Please do not destroy citizens' faith in our local government and discount the hard work they have done by reducing the Gateway Refinement Plan to an ineffectual tool for the purpose it was intended. My fear is that if the Gateway Refinement Plan can be so easily and potentially drastically changed, what could happen to the Glenwood Refinement Plan when something similar happens during Glenwood's development process? Is Springfield so desperate that she cannot say no to this suitor? PeaceHealth can find another location. What about McKenzie-Willamette? Be true to the wishes of your citizens and a better way will present itself in good time. http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2002/12/11/opinion/news3.txt ------------------------------------------------------------ 9.rg - Speak out on hospital ------------------------------------------------------------ Carol A. James, Springfield Letter to The Register-Guard, 12/14/02 I attended the recent Springfield Planning Commission meeting regarding PeaceHealth and learned several things. First and foremost, I learned that the land use decision to site a hospital in the Gateway area should be considered one of policy. The Planning Commission, and ultimately the Springfield City Council, can decide to amend the existing land use code to include the hospital use, or the council could say a use of a hospital does not belong on this site. The usual land use legalese is not required in making the decision. Instead, the decision can be based on the answer to the question, "Is this a good idea or not?" Secondly, the record of written public comment will be held open until the end of the month. This means that if people are like me and are terrified of public speaking, busy in the evenings and need more than three minutes to express all the reasons why they think siting a hospital in the Gateway area is bad public policy, they still have the opportunity to make their opinion known to the Springfield Planning Commission. Unlike the ridiculously short time allowed at the meeting for individual oral testimony, people's written comments can be as long as they wish and may cover as many issues related to the decision as they wish to include. As everyone in the Springfield-Eugene area has a very real stake in this issue, I urge everyone to take the time to express his or her opinion to Springfield public officials. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/12/14/ed.lettersop.1214.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 10.sn - RiverBend site is perfect for hospital ------------------------------------------------------------ Shaun Hyland, Vice President, John Hyland Construction Inc. Letter to The Springfield News, 12/14/02 We at John Hyland Construction support the new PeaceHealth Hospital to be constructed at the new RiverBend site. This is the perfect place for the hospital. The access so close to I-5, an undeveloped area that will surely attract more business to build around the hospital creating more jobs in the community. The construction period of this project will be a major boost and help support all of the local contractors in Lane County. This is a beautiful site especially for the 900 housing units that will be built on it. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2002/12/13/opinion/news3.txt ------------------------------------------------------------ 11.rg - Eugene's advice unneeded ------------------------------------------------------------ Mark F. Herbert, Springfield Letter to The Register-Guard, 12/15/02 Springfield's officials and citizens should keep three simple issues in mind as they form their opinions of PeaceHealth's relocation to the new RiverBend site. The business issues between PeaceHealth and McKenzie-Willamette Hospital are exactly that -- business issues, which are affected by numerous factors -- proximity being a minor one. This issue is a distraction. Is there a benefit to Springfield, Lane County and the region to have a world-class health care facility located there? Remember that PeaceHealth examined multiple sites before concluding that the RiverBend site was best. State land-use official Mark Radabaugh's position that this is a broader consideration than just Springfield is intriguing, as is the support for that position from Eugene City Council members David Kelly, Bonny Bettman and Betty Taylor. During the consideration of the Crescent Drive site, I don't recall that Radabaugh or Eugene councilors felt they would benefit from guidance from Springfield or Lane County. Come to think of it, they didn't seek such input on the Hyundai re-zoning, the West Eugene Parkway or the federal courthouse, either. I guess the benefit flows only one way. This is a Springfield issue that has ramifications for the city, county and region. PeaceHealth faced a similar decision path as Sony, Symantec, PacificSource, Holt International and others: a desire to locate in Lane County, a need for appropriate space and a local government that would work with them. Let's stay focused on the issues. This is good for Springfield, the region and PeaceHealth. Given their track record with attracting and retaining businesses, I don't think Springfield officials need any help from their colleagues in Eugene. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/12/15/ed.letters.1215.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 12.sn - PulsePoll: Approval of PeaceHealth amendments? ------------------------------------------------------------ The Springfield News, 12/14/02 Last week our question was: Should the Springfield Planning Commission approve proposed zoning changes for the PeaceHealth facility? Of the 76 people who responded: 40.8 percent said the zoning changes should be approved. 59.2 percent said they should not be approved. http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2002/12/13/opinion/news4.txt ============== PeaceHealth Salaries and Name ============= ------------------------------------------------------------ 13.rg - Living wage: the 'right' and 'smart' thing ------------------------------------------------------------ By Gordon Lafer Commentary in The Register-Guard, 12/10/02, Page 13A This coming month, Eugene City Council members will again take up the proposal to guarantee that municipal employees and employees of city contractors receive a "living wage." The living wage for Eugene is based on economists' calculations of the minimum amount needed to support an adult with one child. Passing an effective living wage ordinance is the right thing to do. It is our way of saying that, as a community, we want to ensure that the people we're employing are able to support themselves at a minimum standard of living. In the holiday season, when many of us reconnect with our religious traditions, it is particularly fitting that we take this step toward affirming a basic standard of human decency in how we treat each other. Fortunately, the living wage is also the smart thing to do economically. Because Eugene wages start off just slightly below the minimum "living" standard, the total cost of the ordinance is estimated to be approximately $800,000 -- or less than $6 a year for each of us Eugene residents. While the money involved is not that much, there are two reasons to believe it will help our economy as a whole, beyond the help it provides employees of the city and its contractors. First, economists on both the left and right agree that the best way to stimulate a local economy is to give money to people on the bottom. Because low-income people spend a higher percentage of their wages on household needs, increasing their wages creates a bigger multiplier -- improving the business of local merchants and manufacturers. Second, because the city government is one of the larger employers in town, setting a living wage standard may help encourage other employers to follow suit. The law does not require other employers to do anything. But by setting a standard among city employees and contractors, the living wage ordinance will encourage other firms who are competing for local labor to match this standard. At a time when so many Oregon families are struggling to get by -- and when our state has become first in the nation in hunger -- it would be great if our example in the city led other area employers to guarantee the same minimally decent standard for their own workers. Critics of the living wage -- including Ron Schmaedick, whose guest column opposing the ordinance appeared in The Register-Guard on Nov. 22 -- have raised a host of eccentric and outlandish fears about the proposed ordinance. They say it will drive businesses out of the area, and will raise the cost of living to the point of wiping out the real value of any raise for the employees in question. None of these theories is borne out by economic evidence. The cost of living in Eugene is based on the price of goods produced all over Oregon, all over the country, and all across the globe. It is simply impossible that this slight increase for city and contract employees -- amounting to less than one five-hundredth of 1 percent of wages paid in the state -- will impact our cost of living. Similarly, the suggestion that Oregon's minimum wage is the cause of high unemployment has no basis in economic fact. Mass layoffs have come in high-tech companies, communications companies, airlines and sawmills, none of which are minimum-wage employers. These workers did not lose their jobs because of the minimum wage -- and they won't be helped by making it impossible to earn a living at the remaining jobs that are available. Finally, the suggestion that what low-income workers need is more training rather than higher wages flies in the face of 30 years of research showing the anemic results of training programs. Indeed, with so many layoffs in high-tech, it's hard to imagine what jobs these critics think people should be trained for, that could absorb the tens of thousands of Oregonians who have lost their jobs. The problem for the employees in question is not that they're unskilled -- they are perfectly qualified for their jobs. The problem is that, despite their skills, they can't pay their rent, food, clothing and heating bills all at the same time. At the end of the day, the correct response to the concerns raised by critics of the living wage is: been there, done that. Living wage laws have already been passed in scores of cities in Oregon and across the country; none of them have had problems with businesses leaving, rising inflation, or any of the other false fears propagated by opponents. The loudest voices opposing living wages often come from the most elite slice of society, such as the mega-millionaires who fund the Cascade Policy Institute. If one were truly worried that wage increases drive companies out of business or lead to unchecked inflation, the biggest source of concern is not among families struggling to get by, but among those at the top of the corporate food chain. For instance, Oregon's highest-paid CEO, Hollywood Entertainment's Mark Wattles, enjoyed a whopping $4.4 million raise last year. The top 10 CEO's in the state had their compensation increased last year by grants of stock options with a combined market value of $39 million. Even the nonprofit PeaceHealth -- an organization whose practices affect many of our pockets much more profoundly than city contractors -- gave its top four employees a combined raise of more than $650,000 last year, or almost as much as the entire living wage proposal. Instead of attacking those that are struggling to make ends meet, people concerned about runaway salaries would do better to focus their attention where it really matters. The living wage ordinance will not do away with economic injustice, and it will not provide jobs for the thousands of laid-off Oregonians looking for work during the holiday season. But in a small way, it will make us a more humane, more dignified -- and a more prosperous -- community. The City Council should do all of us proud by passing this ordinance. Gordon Lafer is an assistant professor at the University of Oregon's Labor Education and Research Center, and is author of "The Job Training Charade" (Cornell University Press, 2002). http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/12/10/13a.ed.col.lafer.1210.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 14.rg - Moniker changed to lessen ill image ------------------------------------------------------------ By Tim Christie The Register-Guard, 12/15/02, Page 1C PeaceHealth, a $735 million business that operates six hospitals in three states, won't be calling itself a corporation any longer. From now on, when speaking to its employees and to the public, PeaceHealth will call itself a health system, or system, for short. It will phase out the use of "corporation" and "corporate." The Bellevue headquarters will now be known as the "System Office" instead of its common moniker of the past: "corporate." John Hayward, PeaceHealth president and chief executive officer, announced the change in a recent memorandum sent to PeaceHealth employees, medical staff and board members. PeaceHealth operates hospitals in Oregon, Washington and Alaska, including its flagship, Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene. It also owns, wholly or in part, medical practices, imaging clinics, laboratories and a cancer treatment center. PeaceHealth is a nonprofit corporation, meaning no one involved in the organization can benefit personally from its activities. The designation exempts PeaceHealth from corporate income taxes because it is dedicated to a charitable or humanitarian cause. PeaceHealth's branding committee recommended the language change. The committee examined the image PeaceHealth projected to its patients, caregivers and community members, Hayward wrote. Focus groups and community surveys revealed "a common misconception" about PeaceHealth, he said. "Namely, PeaceHealth is thought of as a large, for-profit corporation rather than a Catholic-sponsored not-for-profit health system," he wrote. PeaceHealth's own boiler plate language used in news releases -- that PeaceHealth is a "Bellevue, Washington based corporation" -- has perpetuated the misconception, Hayward wrote. "It is my hope that using language that better describes who we are and what we do as an organization will allow us to more fully express our mission and values in our daily interactions, and give our patients and community members a more accurate perception of PeaceHealth," Hayward wrote. Brian Terrett, spokesman for PeaceHealth's Oregon operations, said he was part of the branding committee. "When people hear 'corporate,' they think of two things: for-profit and large," he said. "We are not-for-profit and we are one of the smallest health care systems in the country." The corporate office in Bellevue has 64 employees. Terrett said the change has nothing to do with PeaceHealth's high-stakes battle with McKenzie-Willamette Hospital, an independent community hospital in Springfield. McKenzie-Willamette has sued PeaceHealth for allegedly competing unfairly for insurance contracts. Since the suit was filed in February, the two hospitals have been fighting not just in court, but also waging a behind-the-scenes public relations battle for the hearts and minds of Lane County. Lynn Kahle, a marketing professor at the University of Oregon, said the connotation of the word "corporation" has changed because of the spate of scandals involving such corporate giants as WorldCom, Tyco and Enron. "I guess the word 'corporation' has come to take on the meaning a large and possibly insensitive organization more oriented toward profit than anything else," he said. "'Corporation' does not necessarily for most people imply caring, and I'm sure PeaceHealth wants to convey an image of caring and being concerned about health above all else." http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/12/15/1c.cr.peacehealth.1215.html ===================== Other Hospitals ==================== ------------------------------------------------------------ 15.rg - Central Oregon hospitals launch expansion plans ------------------------------------------------------------ By The Associated Press The Register-Guard, 12/13/02, Page 8D Bend -- Hospitals around Central Oregon are feeling a crunch and struggling to keep up with a growing population by building new facilities and expanding old ones. At St. Charles Medical Center, the emergency room was built for 14 beds, but 20 have been squeezed in as the hospital tries to deal with increased growth in the region. "Basically we need more beds," ER manager Marty Betsch said. "It's the most urgent need." Cascade Health Services is launching a $115 million expansion project for St. Charles and Central Oregon Community Hospital in Redmond. St. Charles officials broke ground earlier this month on a construction project that will immediately increase the number of ER beds to 39, and expand the rest of the hospital to make room for 38 new patient beds, according to project manager Matt Paine. Also planned is an inpatient unit for the new Orthopaedic & Neurosurgical Center of the Cascades to be built adjacent to the hospital. Currently, the hospital operates near capacity with 172 beds. The hospital issued $75 million in revenue bonds with will be combined with $30 million in reserves and about $10 million from fund-raising efforts. Expansion and remodeling was also under way at COCH in Redmond, with efforts going to the hospital's Birth and Family Center. Paine said a steering committee meets frequently to analyze projects, which revolve around the biggest needs of the community. Cascade Heath runs both facilities. At St. Charles, the ER was expected to see 35,000 patients this year, up from 17,000 treated in 1991 when it was opened. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/12/13/8d.cr.bendhospital.1213.html ==================== Other Development =================== ------------------------------------------------------------ 16.rg - Tight quarters: Innovative Eugene project shoehorns homes next to Interstate 5 ------------------------------------------------------------ By Joe Harwood The Register-Guard, 12/15/02, Page 1F Where other developers see risk, Norm Fogelstrom sees opportunity. In the early 1970s, Fogelstrom bought the empty Swift & Co. chicken processing plant at Fifth Avenue and High Street in central Eugene and created what is now the popular Fifth Street Public Market. Two decades later, he scooped up a 14-acre, 425-foot-wide strip wedged between Interstate 5 and a high-voltage power line and is turning it into an upscale 107-unit subdivision. OK, so the words upscale, subdivision, high-voltage power line and interstate rarely occur in the same sentence when referring to real estate. But Fogelstrom says he's having little difficulty selling homes at the Quail Run subdivision, south of Centennial Boulevard and just west of I-5 in Eugene, for prices starting at $209,000 and averaging close to $260,000. Along with finding buyers, Fogelstrom has earned praise from city planning officials for building an attractive, high-density subdivision relatively near the city's urban core on marginal land long ignored by other developers. State and local land use policies seek to encourage such compact urban developments that are close to bike paths, bus lines, parks and places of employment. The policies seek to prevent sprawl onto farm and forest land and reduce traffic congestion as cities grow. Yet developers in Eugene and throughout the state, with a few notable exceptions, have been slow to embrace the idea. Instead, they typically head for the suburban fringes to carve out housing tracts. That's a function of consumer preference for low-density suburban subdivisions, the relatively low cost of creating such subdivisions, return on investment, scarcity of open land near city centers and, perhaps, a lack of imagination. Because the dense subdivisions are an evolving concept, sometimes municipal development codes stymie such projects. In Fogelstrom's case, the higher-than-normal building heights delayed the project for about eight months. The delay cost Fogelstrom time and money, and was resolved only after the city made exceptions to height restrictions. A recent Eugene code update increased maximum heights for buildings in a cluster subdivision such as Quail Run. Under the new code, the building heights at Quail Run are under the maximum allowed. "We learned a lot of things from this," said Jerry Jacobson, the city's land use permits manager. Aside from that delay, Fogelstrom said the $23 million Quail Run development has been just as profitable as a standard low-density subdivision. Quail Run is about a mile from downtown Eugene, near the Willamette River and Alton Baker Park and provides access to the city's pedestrian and bike path system. A commercial development with a grocery store and other retail businesses is in the planning stages just across Centennial in the Chase Gardens area. "This is a project I take people to as an example of a creative housing development," Jacobson said. "They took a marginal piece of vacant land next to I-5 and produced a unique and high quality housing development for Eugene. This is what we want to see." Fogelstrom's challenge has been to find enough buyers who are willing to trade the open feel of larger lots in a regular subdivision for Quail Run's density and proximity to downtown. Quail Run has a European village flavor. For starters, it's dense, accommodating seven units an acre, compared to the three to five units per acre typical of single-family housing developments in Eugene, Jacobson said. Quail Run's homes are elevated above the streets and feature covered porches and picket fences. Garages are hidden from view. Along the border of the subdivision on three sides, Fogelstrom is building 27 attached townhouses. In the center, he's building 80 detached single-family homes -- six to a cluster -- around tiled courtyards. The townhouses and detached homes range from 1,600 to 3,200 square feet. Fogelstrom said he was looking for a challenge when he bought the property in 1996 for $405,000. "I thought about doing some apartments, but I kept that in the back of my mind because apartments aren't much of a challenge design-wise," he said. "I was more interested in doing some homes." Noise and wires Fogelstrom said he drew up several site plans before coming up with the cluster concept. But he still had to find a way to overcome the site's two major drawbacks: the freeway on the east side and the Eugene Water & Electric Board transmission line that runs north-south on the property's western border. To handle the transmission line area -- which prohibits permanent structures or trees more than 25 feet high within its easement -- Fogelstrom designated the space for RV and guest parking, community gardens and a park. He oriented the homes in the subdivision so residents don't have to look at the line too much. Dealing with the freeway was more difficult. Fogelstrom said he was most worried about the noise emanating from the state's busiest north-south transportation corridor. He studied traditional concrete sound barriers, but discarded that approach as expensive and relatively ineffective. Instead, Fogelstrom decided to ring the development's north, east and south perimeters with the connected townhouses that would reach 32 feet on their backsides to serve as a continuous sound wall. Also, he designed the townhouses and detached homes with extremely steep roof pitches to deflect the traffic noise skyward. Then he went in search of a material to attach to the back of the townhouses to keep sound out. "I talked to a lot of people, a lot of manufacturers," he said. "I spent a lot time researching that." Fogelstrom eventually hooked up with a distributor in England who could supply a dense sound-dampening material called Viroc. The product is manufactured in Belgium. "They use it for seawalls in Europe," he said. Using the Viroc, plenty of insulation and traditional building materials to form multiple membranes, Fogelstrom built sound walls 18 inches thick on the backsides of the townhouses. Traditional sound barriers are 12 feet high and 12 inches thick, he said. The results are impressive. Inside a townhouse with the doors closed, noise from Interstate 5 is inaudible. Fogelstrom said he's received compliments from residents in the nearby Chevy Chase neighborhood for the freeway noise reduction they have noticed. College Hill to Quail Run John Porter, Eugene's planning and development director from 1964 to 1985, was so impressed with the development that he and his wife decided to buy a townhouse at Quail Run. "We had been looking for a condominium or a low-maintenance one-level place near downtown or central Eugene for quite awhile," he said. "We couldn't find anything." Instead, they found Fogelstrom's development. Porter, who will move into the townhouse in February, said he never dreamed of trading his College Hill-area home for 80 feet of I-5 frontage. "My living room is 35 feet from I-5," he said. "I never thought I'd live that close to a freeway." Porter, who spent more than two decades implementing and furthering growth management policies intended to keep the area livable, said the high construction standards, central location, compact urban design and access to bus routes and bike paths hooked him on Fogelstrom's development. "The model he has done needs to be talked about because a lot of times people don't utilize sites like this," Porter said. "As citizens, I think we ought to be moving toward housing that furthers the (state and local land use) goals rather than sprawling out into the Willamette Valley. I'm afraid this area is starting to look like San Jose." Tia Cintron, who is in charge of marketing the homes and helping buyers choose floor plans and finishes, said 32 of the 107 units remain unsold. Buyers have ranged in age from 25 to 85, she said. "We have a nice mix -- retired couples, young couples with kids, single women," she said. Cintron, Fogelstrom's daughter, is a partner in the venture, as is her mother, Donna. Cintron estimates the subdivision will be finished in the next nine to 12 months. Fogelstrom said that about half the homes are built on speculation he'll find buyers, and the other half are built on order, which allows buyers to control some design features as well as choose finishes and fixtures. Asked if he plans to design and develop a similar subdivision when Quail Run is complete, Fogelstrom said he's been too busy to think that far ahead. "But I guess if I had the right piece of property, this is something I would do again," he said. "It's been quite fun." http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/12/15/1f.bz.quailrun.1215.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 17.rg - Springfield gives break to Symantec ------------------------------------------------------------ By Sherri Buri Mcdonald The Register-Guard, 12/10/02, Page 1A Springfield -- The Springfield City Council on Monday handed Symantec Corp. an early Christmas present: a four-year property tax break worth an estimated $1.8 million that the city was under no legal obligation to give. By cutting staff at its technical service center in the Gateway area earlier this year, Symantec became ineligible for enterprise zone tax waivers under an agreement approved last year by the city and Lane County, joint sponsors of Springfield's enterprise zone. But the council decided Monday to award the company most of the tax breaks anyway and lowered the jobs tally that Symantec must meet. Councilors approved the new arrangement on a 4-to-1 vote with no debate. Councilor Dave Ralston cast the sole dissenting vote, also without comment. Councilor Anne Ballew was absent. The move will allow the California-based security software maker to qualify for tax waivers in each of the next four years by having an average of 525 full-time employees at its Springfield center, instead of the previously agreed 617 workers. The matter now will go to the Lane County Board of Commissioners, who have yet to schedule a date to consider the request. Symantec's Springfield site currently employs 514 full-time workers and 30 to 35 temporaries. The temporary workers may count toward the employment minimum if the temporaries work more than 32 hours a week and have worked at Symantec for a year, said John Tamulonis, Springfield's economic development manager. Symantec is continuing to hire information technology workers as vacancies occur and consolidate that department in Springfield. Chris Monnette, head of Symantec's local operation, said the company is confident it can meet the 525-employee minimum. "We built the building for 1,000 (workers), so when we have it at half occupancy, we're not maximizing that investment," he said. Monnette said the tax waiver will help the company continue to grow in Springfield. In October 2001, Symantec applied for and was granted five years of enterprise zone property tax waivers, worth an estimated $2.7 million. But Symantec made some strategic decisions that changed its Springfield head count, throwing its enterprise zone eligibility into question. In late July, Symantec contracted out the work of 270 retail customer service employees and laid off those employees, reducing the head count at the Springfield facility to 460 full-time workers. Figuring that its employment level would be too low to qualify for an enterprise zone waiver under the initial agreement for the tax year that ends next June, Symantec didn't file earlier this year for the tax break with the county assessor's office, Monnette said. As a result, the company paid about $500,000 in property taxes on its $36 million facility and the 14 acres it sits on. Later, Symantec's real estate specialists asked the city whether the company could qualify for future waivers, which led to discussions resulting in the revised agreement that the council approved Monday, Monnette and Tamulonis said. The council's actions are legal. State law allows enterprise zone sponsors to lower the employment minimum and negotiate other terms if a company's building and equipment cost more than $25 million. Symantec's 190,000-square-foot facility cost $36 million to build. This is the second time this year that local enterprise zone sponsors have made tax waiver concessions to employers unable to meet minimum employment levels. In March, the Eugene City Council narrowly approved a request by Hynix to keep its tax break on its west Eugene computer chip plant while lowering the employment level there. Under the new agreement, if Symantec maintains the job levels it promises, then it will be waived from $1.8 million in property taxes over the next four years. However, the company would pay almost $800,000 through payments in lieu of taxes to local governments. Springfield councilors cast their votes with little discussion and no debate. In response to a question from Councilor Christine Lundberg, Tamulonis explained that the new arrangement will channel more money to Springfield in each of the next four years than if Symantec wasn't granted the tax break. That's because Symantec wouldn't be paying property taxes shared by other taxing districts, such as the Eugene School District, whose boundaries include Symantec's property. Instead, Symantec will make direct in-lieu-of-tax payments just to Springfield and to Lane County. Symantec will become ineligible for tax waivers if its average monthly full-time employment in Springfield slips below 460 at any time before Dec. 31, 2007. Under the deal, Symantec will still make some payments in lieu of taxes in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 tax years to Springfield and Lane County. The amount varies depending on whether Symantec attains an annual average of 525 full-time employees. If it meets that requirement, Symantec will pay $131,250 to the city of Springfield and $32,812 to Lane County in each of the two tax years. If Symantec fails to meet the 525-worker minimum, the company will make an in-lieu-of-taxes payment equal to the entire amount of the property tax waiver for that year. Symantec would be subject to the same conditions in tax years 2005-6 and 2006-7 that the zone sponsors approved a year ago. Symantec must pay Springfield $175,000 a year and Lane County $43,750 a year to offset the costs of police, fire, safety and other services for Symantec's Springfield site. Symantec also must pay $25,000 to the Willamalane Parks District by next July to help fund a skate park. In addition, Symantec agrees during the exemption period to pay average salary and benefits to new employees of at least $40,832, which is 150 percent of Lane County's prevailing annual wage at the time Symantec first applied for the enterprise zone. Symantec posted a loss of $28 million on sales of $1.07 billion in the fiscal year that ended March 29. The loss for the year reflects one-time charges related to acquiring several other companies, the company said. The loss shouldn't be viewed negatively, Monnette said. "Our business is doing great." http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/12/10/1a.symantec.1210.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 18.sn - Springfield City Council extends tax benefits to Symantec ------------------------------------------------------------ By Jaime Sherman The Springfield News, 12/14/02 The City Council has granted an additional two years of tax benefits to Symantec Corp. in Springfield and modified the required employment level at the company to satisfy enterprise zone standards. City councilors voted 4-1 Monday night for the tax-exempt extension and changed the required minimum average annual employment level at the Gateway-area technical support center from 617 to 525. Councilor Dave Ralston voted against the extension without comment. The enterprise zone designation provides property tax exemptions for three years to companies that relocate to the city or to land within its urban growth boundary. Lane County co-sponsors the designation for the $36-million facility. Symantec requested the required employee level change after many of its employees moved to Eugene to work at Spectrum Contact Services. The lower employee count caused Symantec to become ineligible for the tax-exempt status. The extension of tax benefits was granted on the grounds that the company will pay property taxes in fiscal year 2003 and will receive the change in the minimum employment level from both sponsors of the enterprise zone, meaning Lane County must now approve the request. The allowances for remaining within the exempt tax bracket are permitted because Symantec's facility represents an investment greater than $25 million, according to the city. The annual payments Springfield will receive after fiscal year 2003 as a result of the extension will be $131,250 in 2004 and 2005 and $175,000 in 2006 and 2007. The payments help fund police, fire and other city services in exchange for the tax-exempt status. Lane County will receive $32,812 in 2004 and 2005 and $43,750 in 2006 and 2007. Symantec will still be required to pay Willamalane Park & Recreation District $25,000 for development of a skatepark. The extended tax-exempt period requires Symantec to compensate new employees above the 150-percent average wage in Lane County. http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2002/12/13/business/news2.txt ------------------------------------------------------------ 19.sn - Council to vote on zoning amendments for new sports complex Monday ------------------------------------------------------------ By Jaime Sherman The Springfield News, 12/4/02 The future of a proposed sports complex in central Springfield looks a bit brighter after Monday's public hearing on zone changes for the 35-acre site at 32nd and Main streets. No one voiced concern during the hearing before the City Council about rezoning the site to accommodate a $12-million regional sports complex. "We're at a point now where this dream is actually going to occur," Mayor Sid Leiken said. "I think this (complex) is going to be one of the lasting legacies this council should be very proud of." The proposed land use amendments currently before the council would rezone 30 acres of light-medium and heavy industrial land to parks and open spaces and would redesignate five acres of land to community commercial. The council will vote on the amendments Monday. The current athletic fields in the Gateway area of north Springfield are to be relocated to the central site, and additional sports facilities are to be constructed. Eugene businesswoman Carolyn Chambers purchased the 22-acre Gateway site for $3.2 million with the agreement she will pay an additional $2 million if rezoning of the site is successful. As a result, land use amendments are before the City Council on the Gateway site to rezone parks and open space and community commercial land to campus industrial. If the site is rezoned, Chambers plans to use the site for campus industrial development. The City Council will also vote on the rezoning request next Monday. Plans for a sports complex in Springfield have been in the works for more than a decade but didn't gain momentum until this year when Arlie & Co. donated 10 acres of land at 32nd and Main streets to Broad Base Programs Inc. for the 160,000-square-foot sports complex. The complex, which will be completed in phases over several years, will feature an ice rink, gymnastics center and courts for volleyball and basketball. The Eugene-based real estate investment and development company also sold 20 acres of land at the site to the city for Willamalane Park and Recreation District to build three to five soccer fields. The 20-acre portion will also make room for Kidsports to build a 10,000-square-foot headquarters building and for construction of a playground, a picnic shelter and a skatepark. Arlie & Co. retains the northern five acres of the site for future development of a convenience store, restaurants and a retail sports equipment and apparel store. Following approval of the land use changes, construction of portions of the sports complex could begin next summer or fall. http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2002/12/04/local/news3.txt ------------------------------------------------------------ 20.rg - Rezonings put sports complex midtown ------------------------------------------------------------ The Register-Guard, 12/10/02, Page 3D Springfield - The City Council on Monday unanimously approved rezonings to build a sports complex in midtown and to use the formerly planned site in the Gateway area for industry. The former 22-acre site at Sports Way in northwest Springfield will be zoned for regional distribution centers, a corporate headquarters or other campus-industrial uses. Eugene businesswoman Carolyn Chambers bought the site for $3.2 million and will pay an additional $2.2 million for the favorable rezoning. Thirty-five acres at the southwest corner of Main and 32nd streets will be rezoned for the 160,000-square-foot sports complex, as well as restaurants and stores to the north and five soccer fields to the south. Broad Base Programs, the nonprofit group formed to build and operate the sports complex, could begin construction in April, and four fields could be open by next fall. The complex could serve up to 5,000 people daily and would feature an ice rink and six full-size basketball-volleyball courts. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/12/10/3d.cr.digest.1210.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 21.sn - Zoning changes clear way for complex ------------------------------------------------------------ By Jaime Sherman The Springfield News, 12/11/02 The City Council cleared the way Monday night for construction of a $12-million regional sports complex at 32nd and Main streets by approving changes to two Springfield development plans. The 35 acres at the central-Springfield site have been rezoned from light-medium and heavy industrial land to community commercial, parks and open space, and public lands and open space. The changes amend land use designations in the Metropolitan General Plan and Mid-Springfield Refinement Plan diagrams. Along with the changes to the 32nd and Main streets land, the council approved the redesignation and rezoning of 22 acres north of International Way in the Gateway area, where the sport complex was originally planned. Eugene businesswoman Carolyn Chambers purchased the Gateway site from the city for $3.2 million and requested the rezoning to accommodate campus industrial development. Because the rezoning request was successful, Chambers will pay an additional $2.2 million to the city. The city plans to use the money for special investment opportunities, City Manager Mike Kelly said. On the central-Springfield site, Broad Base Programs Inc. plans to build a 160,000-square-foot sports complex on nearly 10 acres. The land was donated by Arlie & Co. of Eugene. The complex, which will be completed in phases over several years, will feature an ice rink, gymnastics center and courts for volleyball and basketball. On the back 20 acres, Willamalane Park and Recreation District plans to construct outdoor fields, a playground, a picnic shelter and skatepark. Willamalane will also make room for Kidsports to build a 10,000-square-foot headquarters building. Arlie & Co. of Eugene retains the five-acre front parcel for future development of a convenience store, restaurants and a retail sports equipment and apparel store. Each group must now submit development plans for review by the city's development services de-partment. http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2002/12/11/local/news5.txt ================== Transportation Issues ================= ------------------------------------------------------------ 22.sn - Road hard: City councilors consider transportation fee, local gas tax ------------------------------------------------------------ By Jaime Sherman The Springfield News, 12/4/02 City councilors tried again Monday evening to find a way to fill the growing hole in the city's street fund by coming up with a local source of revenue to stabilize it. At an hour-long work session, councilors weighed the wisdom of passing a local transportation system maintenance fee, which could raise about $1 million a year by billing city residents and businesses a monthly fee. They agreed to vote next Monday on a fee ordinance and on forming a partnership with the city of Eugene for purposes of passing a local gas tax. The city of Springfield faces the need to trim $1 million from its street fund in the next fiscal year if something isn't done to mend the ailing fund, Springfield Public Works Director Dan Brown told the council. The shortfall is due in part to the state gas tax revenue remaining stagnant since 1993 and because Lane County's ability to fund road projects has gradually declined. Lane County commissioners gathered city leaders from Springfield and other Lane County cities on Oct. 30 to discuss a joint venture for raising money for roads maintenance, but the meeting ended without an agreement. Not willing to wait for the county to act and skeptical about road funding from the 2003 State Legislature, the city of Springfield has moved forward to solve the street funding problem by itself. "Council understands the problem here won't be solved by the state and obviously (not) the county," Mayor Sid Leiken said. "We have to solve the problem on our own." Len Goodwin, the city's technical services manager, presented the council with three options for a transportation system maintenance fee. The fee would likely appear on monthly utility bills. Option A, which the council ultimately favored for residential users, would raise about $1 million a year by billing residential users $1.75 a month. Businesses would face a $20 to $500 fee each month, depending on the number of trips they generated each month. Estimated numbers range from nearly 2,100 trips per month for a general office building to more than 63,000 trips a month for a big box retail store. Option B recommends raising the residential rate to $2.50 and the business rates to $25 to $550 a month for a yearly total of $1.2 million for the city's street fund. Option C would cost residential users $3.50 a month and businesses between $30 and $750 a month for a yearly total of $1.6 million for the street fund. Money raised above $1 million would modestly shore up the city's street fund reserve, which the city has dipped into yearly since 1999. Councilor Anne Ballew said she was uncertain whether residents could afford an increase in their monthly bills, but she agreed something needs to be done to save the failing street fund. "We're at a position to let the roads go or not," Ballew said. "How much do we want to do about it?" In the past, councilors discussed passing a local gas tax, maybe in cooperation with the city of Eugene, but road maintenance staff didn't recommend this course of action at Monday's meeting. The Oregon Gas Dealers Association has said it will oppose any attempt by cities to pass local gas taxes, ultimately eroding the ability of cities to develop local revenue sources. But the association's caution against passage of such a tax didn't seem to worry councilors. "I hate to support anything that's a tax," Councilor Dave Ralston said. "But not doing anything isn't an option. I'd feel more comfortable asking for a gas tax. I think everyone can relate to that. I think the public can understand us asking for that." Councilor Fred Simmons said he supports a transportation system maintenance fee as long as it includes a low-income exemption, but he said he would like to see passage of a gas tax, too. "I think the gas tax is the best way to proportion the tax, but there is no way on God's green earth to get a county gas tax," Simmons said. Councilor Christine Lundberg said she wanted "to beat up on the county for a minute," saying the county has shirked its duty to represent the communities and find a way to strengthen the cities' street funds. "I still don't want to go down the path of the TSMF," she said. Councilor Tammy Fitch ultimately led the councilors to agree on a vote next Monday to approve a transportation system maintenance fee and to form a partnership with the city of Eugene on levying a 2- to 3-cent per gallon gas tax. The gas tax would have the potential of raising $600,000 a year. The council would likely follow the Option A fee rate of $1.75 a month for residential users and the Option B fee rate of $25 to $550 a month for business users. Any revenue from a gas tax would help grow the street fund's reserves and provide for additional service to Springfield streets. "We have to be our own answer, or we'll be in a world of hurt. We have an opportunity right now," Fitch said. "'There is a fee everyone needs to share. I think we need to step up and do this." Fitch said she remains a proponent of the gas tax, but she doesn't want the city's street fund to hinge on the uncertain passage of a gas tax. "We still have a $1 million hole next year," she said. "I think we need, at minimum, to raise that in the most efficient way possible." http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2002/12/04/local/news1.txt ------------------------------------------------------------ 23.rg - Cities debate charging for roads ------------------------------------------------------------ By Matt Cooper The Register-Guard, 12/8/02, Page 1C As Eugene and Springfield consider ways to fill truck-sized potholes in their street funds, it's come to this: telling the residents and businesses who've been using the roads that it's time to pay up. Both cities' elected councils on Monday will consider adopting "transportation system maintenance fees," which means residents and businesses would pay monthly fees based on their use of city streets. That's only the half of it: Early next year the cities will consider adding an approximate 3-cent local gas tax to the price of a gallon -- and doing it before the gasoline lobby can convince the Legislature to stop them. The funding crisis for street repair has been building for a long time, said Eric Jones, a spokesman for Eugene Public Works. "In Springfield, their street fund operating budget has been getting leaner and leaner," he said. "(In Eugene) we've been increasingly unable to keep up with a backlog of repair projects, mounting for years." Both cities blame the state's stagnant gas tax -- unchanged since 1993, Jones said -- for failing to bring in revenue that keeps pace with the ever-rising costs of maintaining streets. Both also note the cutbacks in funding from road partnership agreements with Lane County, which itself has endured a drop in revenue from federal timber harvests. The upshot? Eugene's street fund is $7.3 million -- enough to pay for ongoing operation and routine maintenance, Jones said, but insufficient to address the monstrous backlog of needed projects totaling $93 million. Springfield, meanwhile, pulls in about $3 million annually and spends $4 million, said technical services manager Len Goodwin. The city plans to cut $1 million in projects before the budget cycle beginning next July. Even then, Goodwin added, the street fund will run dry in June 2004 without new money. "(State) gas tax revenue isn't getting any bigger," Goodwin said. "Expenditures keep going up, everything costs more with general inflation, and the system is larger -- we have 180 miles of streets, compared with 160 miles 20 years ago." If the Springfield council supports it Monday, Springfield's road user fee could start showing up on Springfield Utility Board bills as early as next July, Goodwin said. He's confident city leaders favor some version of a fee-tax combination, but that's a bigger question on the other side of Interstate 5. Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey said he believes his City Council is split evenly on the fee issue, with two potential swing votes. Torrey himself cast the tie-splitting vote last August to reject a fee ordinance, but has since had a change of heart: "If it's a tie vote, I'll vote to support the transportation user fee," he said. "I just don't see the state providing us any additional revenues. (The county) is not prepared to do anything. We just can't wait; the roads won't fix themselves." Such sentiment doesn't win Torrey points at the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce. The chamber flatly opposes a transportation user fee without an accompanying gas tax, contending that the cost to businesses and property owners could be egregious, said Terry Connolly, director of government affairs. The chamber is more agreeable to a fee-tax combination, Connolly said, but on these conditions: a reduction in fees assessed to users of storm water drainage; a commitment that much of the street work will go to the private sector; a pledge to keep administrative costs down; and a guarantee that the money raised will go solely to the backlog of road projects, not other city needs. "We would want to make certain that the public sees their potholes being filled," Connolly said. "We don't want the revenue raised and spent as overhead and engineering. Put the money on the ground and take care of the (backlog) problem -- there should not be the administrative costs." Where the gas tax is concerned, the cities could face an even bigger problem at the state level. The Oregon Gasoline Dealers Association and Oregon Petroleum Marketers Association intend to lobby the Legislature to keep cities from enacting a local tax that disrupts the playing field on which gas stations compete for business, said Brent DeHart, president of the gasoline dealers association. If cities pass gas taxes, owners of gas stations there won't be able to compete with those outside city limits, DeHart said. Station owners, he said, would have two choices: pay the additional tax themselves -- a potentially exorbitant monthly cost -- or add 3 cents to the price of a gallon, and watch motorists drive outside the city for better prices. "It's incredibly unfair to tax the one station, when the one across the street is not taxed," DeHart said. As opposed to the "piecemeal, quilt-like situation" of city-approved gas taxes, DeHart said, the gasoline associations are pushing Salem for a uniform solution: raising gas prices 3 cents across the state, and ensuring that the additional money goes back to the cities and counties, not the state Department of Transportation. He hopes the proposal will entice cities that don't want the political bruise of passing a local gas tax, and constituents who want the money returning to their streets. "This money is designated toward the local streets and roads," DeHart said. "It's more palatable than a statewide increase that goes to ODOT." Paying for Streets The Eugene and Springfield city councils on Monday will consider ordinances to charge residents and businesses for road maintenance. Both also will consider an approximate 3-cent local gas tax early next year. * Eugene: Residents could pay $2.90 per month; businesses, depending on size, could pay from $20 to $1,150 monthly. For more information, visit www.ci.eugene.or.us/pw/streets/ or call 682-5010. * Springfield: Residents could pay $1.75 per month; businesses from $20 to $550 monthly. For more information, visit www.ci.springfield.or.us/dept_pw.htm (transportation system and pavement needs) or call 726-3700. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/12/08/1c.cr.gastax.1208.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 24.rg - Councils vote 'yes' on road fees ------------------------------------------------------------ By Matt Cooper The Register-Guard, 12/10/02, Page 1D The Eugene and Springfield councils voted Monday to charge citizens for the upkeep of streets and to move forward in January with a likely 3-cent gasoline tax. Both cities' elected councils adopted "transportation system maintenance fees," which means residents and businesses will pay monthly fees based on their use of city streets. In Eugene, the vote was 5-3, with councilors Pat Farr, Betty Taylor and Bonny Bettman in opposition. In Springfield, the vote was 4-1, with Councilor Christine Lundberg the sole dissenter. User fees in both cities could start showing up in utility bills next July. Both cities blame the state's stagnant gas tax -- unchanged since 1993 -- for failing to bring in revenue that keeps pace with the ever-rising costs of maintaining streets. City officials also note the cutbacks in funding from road partnership agreements with Lane County, which itself has endured a drop in revenue from federal timber harvests. Eugene's street fund is $7.3 million, insufficient to address the backlog of needed projects totaling $93 million. Springfield, meanwhile, seeks an additional $1.6 million to cover maintenance and preservation. In Springfield, resident Michael O'Connor angrily denounced the move and said the city should cut superfluous services before turning to citizens during an economic downturn. "I took a damn 20 percent pay cut to go back to work -- I put off what I need," O'Connor said. "People are doing with less; I don't care what goes, if it isn't fire, police, schools and road maintenance, get rid of it." Echoing his concerns, Councilor Lundberg said she voted against the measure because she opposes turning to taxes simply because "it's creative and convenient." "There's a fairer way to do it. It doesn't address the overriding way we ought to be taxing for the services," she said. The Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce opposes a transportation user fee without an accompanying gas tax, contending that the cost to businesses and property owners could be exorbitant. Eugene Councilor Pat Farr voted against the user fee on those grounds. "One of the things (businesses criticize Eugene for) is overlapping taxes, too many regulations, too many fees," he said. "We seem to just want to tax and tax and tax the businesses that come to this town." The Eugene council rejected an amendment by Councilor Bettman to refer the transportation fee issue to voters, but members said they recognize citizens could take action themselves to refer the issue to voters. "This is a tax -- it's a priority (voters) have got to choose, because it's coming out of their pockets," Bettman said. While the fee will be assessed on utility bills, Eugene councilors amended the ordinance to ensure that electricity and water services won't be discontinued for nonpayment of the road maintenance fee. Whether the user fee and possible gas tax will survive a legislative override remains to be seen, however. The Oregon Gasoline Dealers Association and Oregon Petroleum Marketers Association intend to lobby the Legislature, which convenes in January, to keep cities from enacting local gas taxes. Paying for Streets The Eugene and Springfield city councils on Monday approved ordinances to charge residents and businesses for road maintenance. Both also will consider a 3-cent local gas tax in late January. * Eugene: Residents will pay up to $2.90 per month; businesses, depending on size, will pay from $20 to $1,150 monthly. For more information, visit www.ci.eugene.or.us/pw/streets/ or call 682-5010. * Springfield: Residents will pay $1.75 per month; businesses from $20 to $550 monthly. For more information, visit www.ci.springfield.or.us/dept_pw.htm (transportation system and pavement needs) or call 726-3700. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/12/10/1d.cr.gastax.1210.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 25.sn - City Council approves monthly road fee ------------------------------------------------------------ By Jaime Sherman The Springfield News, 12/11/02 The City Council passed an ordinance Monday night allowing the city to charge Springfield residents and business owners for their use of the city's 180 miles of roads. Councilors voted 4-1 to save the city's failing street fund through a transportation system maintenance fee, which will raise $1 million annually and could cost residential users $1.75 a month. The monthly fee could appear on utility bills as early as July. Council President Lyle Hatfield said the council doesn't want to burden people with additional fees but he said now is the time to protect city streets from deteriorating. "It is with a very, very, very heavy heart that I step up. We have an opportunity to protect one of the key services the city provides," he said. "We can fix it now for a little cost and keep the system maintained, or we can let it deteriorate." Councilor Christine Lundberg voted against the ordinance, and Councilor Anne Ballew was absent for Monday's vote. Four people spoke against the ordinance during a public hearing. The city needs to cut $1 million from the street fund in the coming fiscal year -- a quarter of the fund's annual budget. In the past three years, the city has drawn from the street fund reserve, which has shrunk and is no longer a viable option for funding street maintenance. The shortfall is due in part to the state gas tax revenue remaining stagnant since 1993 and because Lane County's ability to fund road projects has gradually declined. During a work session before the vote, councilors also agreed to pursue a local gas tax in cooperation with Eugene and other communities. The discussed 3-cent gas tax could raise $600,000 for Springfield each year to help renew the street fund and provide for future street work. Councilors emphasized the gas tax revenue is essential for the street fund. If a gas tax isn't successful, the City Council will need to consider increasing the transportation system maintenance fee to $3.50 a month for residential users. "The key is having enough for pavement preservation," Dan Brown, the city's public works director, said during the work session. "We haven't had adequate pavement preservation in the last years." Every five years the city must lay a slurry seal on streets to fill in cracks, and every 10 years an asphalt overlay is required. If these two steps don't occur, the entire street must be reconstructed. The city will face a $20-million backlog in the street fund in five years if something isn't done to ensure proper funding today, Brown said. "It's just a snowball kind of thing," he said. "If you don't pay now, someone will have to later." Although the ordinance doesn't specify a set price for the fee, councilors have discussed charging residential users $1.75 a month. Households falling below 50 percent of the area's median income will be exempt from the fee. The fees, which will be set by the council in the spring, will appear on Springfield Utility Board bills. Business owners will be charged based on the number of trips their businesses generate. The fee will cost them between $25 a month for fewer than 5,000 trips to $550 for more than 40,000 trips. Estimated numbers range from nearly 2,100 trips per month for a general office building to more than 63,000 trips a month for a big box retail store. The trips are calculated based on a national transportation statistics manual. Business owners who dispute the number of trips their businesses create can petition the city for a lower fee. Lundberg, who voted against the ordinance, said the council shouldn't ask citizens for more money just because the county and state refuse to help pay for city street maintenance. "I have a basic issue with taxing because it's creative and convenient," she said. She raises issue with the school district and other money strapped organizations being taxed for use of the roads. "I just don't want to do this tax," she said. "I think there is a better way to do it." Citizens who spoke at the public hearing agreed. Michael O'Connor of Spring-field said he is tired of fees and levies. "It's ridiculous," he said of the transportation fee. "I'm not happy." Jan Johnson of Springfield said the city needs to find another way to fund road maintenance. "We're starting to get taxed and taxed for everything," she said. http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2002/12/11/local/news1.txt ======================= Other News ======================= ------------------------------------------------------------ 26.rg - A fish's island paradise: A survey finds many species around the McKenzie River spot ------------------------------------------------------------ By Scott Maben The Register-Guard, 12/10/02, Page 1D Springfield -- They are rare gems in the necklace that is the McKenzie River, treasured as safe havens for a variety of native fish and other wildlife. The few remaining islands breaking up the lower river's current give juvenile chinook salmon a respite on their pilgrimage to the Pacific. The shallow backwaters provide food and shelter for the three-spined stickleback, a minnowlike fish whose bony side plates help keep predators at bay. The quiet pools of the side channels appeal to the Western pond turtle and the red-legged frog, species that are slipping away from nature. Places such as the island in the bend of the river about a mile east of Gateway Mall are precious and scarce, and should be preserved for eternity, according to the McKenzie River Trust of Eugene. "There are not many areas left in the lower McKenzie that provide that high-quality habitat," said Ryland Moore, who directs the trust's work in the McKenzie basin. The organization teams up with private landowners to protect land that offers unique habitat along rivers and streams. For several years it has had an eye on the island just downstream from Harvest Landing, next to the property where PeaceHealth wants to build its new hospital complex. The trust is working with the island's owners and several nearby residents to map the ecological value of the site, with the hope of establishing a conservation easement or other means or protection, Moore said. The efforts do not infringe on PeaceHealth's plans, said Moore, who declined to identify the island's owners while negotiations continue. Many of the river's islands have disappeared in the wake of years of flood control and efforts to straighten the river's course -- making preservation of this island all the more paramount to people like Moore. One of the first steps is to find out which animals and plants depend on the island habitat. Last week, biologists from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and Willamette National Forest surveyed for native fish. They found 11 species, including chinook salmon, cutthroat trout, redside shiner and pikeminnow. "We found a lot more three-spined sticklebacks than we would normally imagine finding out there," said Jeff Ziller, district fish biologist for the Department of Fish and Wildlife. "That was pretty neat. We were encouraged that the population is not as bad as we thought it was." http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/12/10/1d.cr.fishsurvey.1210.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 27.sn - City servants: City bids Councilors Lundberg and Simmons farewell ------------------------------------------------------------ By Jaime Sherman The Springfield News, 12/14/02 Out-going City Councilors Christine Lundberg and Fred Simmons received an array of goodbye gifts Thursday at a going-away party in their honor but none so unique as the "Lundberg Flyover" aerial photograph and the dirty, rubber boots. Nick Arnis, the city's transportation manager, gave Lundberg an aerial photo of the Gateway-area roads with her face on an exit ramp from Interstate 5 to her home in Ward 1. The gift, which brought laughter from city officials gathered in a room at City Hall, acknowledged Lundberg's work on the I-5/Belt Line interchange decision team. Chuck Gottfried, the city's water resource coordinator, presented Simmons with mud-stained rubber boots and a "clean water avenger kit" with tools for sampling water quality. The gift represented Simmons' continued stewardship of the city's natural resources. City officials laughed and fought back tears as they gave speeches in honor of the two councilors who helped represent the city in the past four years. Mayor Sid Leiken watches as Fred Simmons hands City Manager Mike Kelly a sign, "in the event the budget gets too bad," Simmons said. Sam Karp/The Springfield News "I think we've made an outstanding team," Mayor Sid Leiken said. "I want to thank the two of them. They've been outstanding." Leiken said he will miss Simmons' sense of humor, intelligence and passion. "From the bottom of my heart I appreciate everything you've done and most of all, for your friendship," Leiken said. Displaying his sense of humor, Simmons presented a "Beware of Dog" sign to police Chief Jerry Smith. The sign referenced the City Council's continued discussion about animal control service in the city. City Manager Mike Kelly got a "Sorry, we're closed" sign "in the event the budget gets too bad," Simmons said. Leiken fought back tears as he spoke of Lundberg's dedication to the City Council. "You're a caring individual, and you love to serve," he said to Lundberg. "Christine is very active and passionate about what she does." In response to Leiken's comments, Lundberg said she was proud to have served the community. "I just want to say thank you. What an honor it has been to serve," she said. "I grew up knowing serving community is just something you did." Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey took the microphone next, reminding people the party was a time for celebration. "You know, folks, this is not a funeral," he said. "They're still around for a while." Torrey said he has appreciated Simmons' knowledge and experience and Lundberg's passion for children. Simmons served on the City Council in the 1980s and again in the past four years for a total of eight years. He was also on the city's budget committee for four years and was active with the McKenzie Watershed Council and the Police Planning Task Force. John Woodrow will replace Simmons in Ward 5, and Stu Burge will take Lundberg's seat on the council for Ward 1. Lundberg was on the City Council for a total of four years. She helped involve grassroots organizations in the political process, was a Springfield Together leader, was the point person for the I-5/Belt Line interchange decision and active on the Willamalane Park and Recreation District skatepark task force. Lundberg said she won't disappear from public service. "I still will stay involved because I want to," Lundberg said. "I love the work and being part of the community, but I need to be a mom and not split the time." She wants to spend more time with her four children and get back to running and fishing. Lundberg may be in the public eye again next year. She has applied for a position on the Willamalane Park and Recreation District board. Simmons plans to spend his retirement hunting, fishing and shooting his guns. "This has been an interesting four years because there's been so many good things happen. I fear the next four years are going to be challenging," he said. "It was time to let the new folks plow the field. They're not going to have an easy time, I'm afraid. He also doesn't plan to stay away from politics. He said he will often testify at City Council meetings. "I can use the three minutes very successfully," he said. http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2002/12/13/local/news1.txt =========================== Key ========================== "Health Options Digest" is best read with an email program that recognizes links to web pages. It includes leads from and links to stories and opinions from the following publications: rg = The Register-Guard sn = Springfield News ew = Eugene Weekly cn = Comic News ode = Oregon Daily Emerald cce = City Club of Eugene Newsletter or = Oregonian For some stories, two links are given. Use the first link if the story is still current; use the second if another issue has since been published. ========================= Credits ======================== "Health Options Digest" is published once every week or so by the Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES) as a service to the community. It is intended as an unbiased digest of news and opinion related to proposed changes in health care options for the community. The purpose of "Health Options Digest" is to inform, not editorialize. Please forward your copy of "Health Options Digest" to a friend. If you know of someone who should be on the CHOICES email list, or for questions about your subscription, send email to rzako@efn.org. ======================== More Info ======================= Please visit our web site for info about how you can contact us, the local papers, elected officials, PeaceHealth and McKenzie-Willamette: http://www.efn.org/~choices