Dear CHOICES Subscribers, PeaceHealth and the City of Springfield appear to be pushing forward with "Plan A" to construct a $350-million regional hospital in the Gateway area, in the floodplain of the McKenzie River and in a corner of the community poorly served by roads. Look for PeaceHealth to try to amend their annexation agreement with the City of Springfield to allow them to begin breaking ground this fall, even before they gain approval for their master plan and before pending appeals are decided. But what happens if "Plan A" is stopped by the appeals? What if the courts agree that building a major regional hospital in the Gateway area violates Statewide Planning Goals? What is PeaceHealth's "Plan B"? We hear PeaceHealth has no "Plan B" -- only a hope and a prayer that "Plan A" will work. Perhaps it would make prudent business sense for PeaceHealth to begin looking for a "Plan B." CHOICES approached PeaceHealth CEO Alan Yordy over a year ago, wanting to do just that. PeaceHealth then as now, showed no interest in a "Plan B." While the power of prayer can be strong, God helps those who help themselves. The future shape of development in the local economy is much in the news. As Alan Pittman reports in the Eugene Weekly, some are some are pushing to expand the Urban Growth Boundary, allowing prime farmland to be paved over with industrial parks and parking lots. Indeed, if PeaceHealth does build at Gateway right next to the UGB, there will be intense pressure to push the UGB to Coburg and beyond, making Coburg a bedroom community for doctors and nurses. Meanwhile, in the wake of Sony leaving town, there is a debate over whether tax breaks for large companies make sense or not. In related news, Weyerhaeuser just announced it is eliminating nearly 200 jobs. Weyerhaeuser is one of the top recipients of tax breaks in Lane County. Friday was Tom Lininger's last day a the East Lane County Commissioner. Tom has been a breathe of fresh air to the county, bringing an ability to see different perspectives, to reconcile urban and rural views, and to look for common ground on a commission where common ground has been hard to find. We thank Tom for his eight months of service, wish he could stay longer, and wish him success in his new pursuits teaching law at the UO. Rob Zako, Editor 343-5201 rzako@efn.org ================================================================================ Health Options Digest August 17, 2003 Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPPORTUNITIES Applications sought for Springfield Historic Commission SPRINGFIELD -- The city is accepting applications to fill two positions on the seven-member Historic Commission. The commission promotes stewardship for historic preservation through education and participation. Applicants do not need to be Springfield residents or property owners, but their backgrounds must meet state Historic Preservation Office guideline standards. Applications are available in the City Manager's Office, City Hall, 225 Fifth St. The deadline to apply is Aug. 29. For more information, call 726-3632. (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/03/c2.cr.rg.briefs.0803.html Historic Commission accepting applications SPRINGFIELD -- The city is accepting applications to fill two positions on the seven-member Historic Commission. Preference will be given to applicants with technical expertise or background in historic preservation, local history, architecture, construction, archaeology or preservation-related disciplines. Applicants do not need to be residents or property owners in Springfield but their background must meet State Historic Preservation Office standards. The mission of the commission is to promote stewardship for historic preservation through education and participation. The next meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 1 in the library meeting room at City Hall, 225 Fifth St. Candidates are requested to attend this meeting and stay for introduction interviews. Applications are available at the city manager's office. The deadline to apply is Aug. 29. For more information, call Kitti Gale at 726-3632. (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/10/c4.cr.briefs.0810.html Eugene seeks volunteers for lots of vacancies This is not a typing exercise: Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party. Well, not their party, actually, but their city. And let's not exclude women, either. The folks down at City Hall are looking for volunteers, and not just a couple. Needed are two new members of Eugene's budget committee, one planning commissioner, five members each for the city's police and human rights commissions, two members of the toxics board and one new Metropolitan Wastewater Management commissioner. If you're interested in any of the vacancies, you'll need to complete an application and supplemental questionnaire. Both are available at the city manager's office, at Room 105 in City Hall, or on the Internet at http://www.ci.eugene.or.us. The application deadline for positions on each of the committees, boards and commissions is 5 p.m., Sept. 26. For more information, contact Sarah Bleeden in the city manager's office, at 682-5823. (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/03/c1.cr.citybeat.0803.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CALENDAR Tuesday, 8/19 -- Lane County Planning Commission 5:30 p.m., Commissioners' Conference Room, Public Service Bldg.. 125 E. Eighth Ave., Eugene. Work session on Transportation System Plan update and associated Lane Code and Manual changes. Wednesday, 8/20 -- Lane County Board of Commissioners 9:00 a.m., Commissioners' Conference Room, Public Service Bldg.. 125 East 8th Ave., Eugene, 682-4203 Item #5.a -- Continued Discussion: Possible Meeting with Cities Regarding Transportation Funding (20 min.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PEACEHEALTH Demolition is overdue By Cynthia Hart, Springfield Letter to the Register-Guard, 8/15/03 I live on Game Farm Road across from PeaceHealth's RiverBend property. PeaceHealth realized early that the rental structures there were so run down that they were a liability. The company issued eviction notices to the most threatening rentals. It has the right and responsibility to do so. An old converted dairy barn was used for horse boarding. The renters didn't do many repairs, and the house was as filthy as the barn. Another structure was damaged by a fallen tree and is beyond repair. Asbestos was removed from another house, and another had been virtually swallowed by giant blackberry stalks. Yet another old house is falling off its foundation and is unsafe. It costs PeaceHealth to manage, maintain and insure these useless structures. I can count 13 dilapidated barns, outbuildings and houses that need to go. If PeaceHealth doesn't do it, then the next property owner will inherit the need to do so. In addition, three buildings are in the direct path of the freeway extension; they will need to go whether the hospital builds or not. These places are in particular need of demolition. Hooray - it's finally going to be done. I trust PeaceHealth will fill in the holes and remove the hazards to make the land more usable, valuable and safe. Demolition is normal and necessary, and it's the property owner's prerogative. As a directly impacted neighbor, a stakeholder, I encourage it. In fact, the sooner the better. I am grateful to PeaceHealth for being a good steward of the land. (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/15/ed.letters.0815.html Consult pregnant women By Heather Heater, Coordinator, Birth Companion Network, Eugene Letter to the Register-Guard, 8/12/03 I am glad to see that PeaceHealth is planning to create specialized mother- and baby-friendly birthing rooms for its RiverBend medical complex (Register-Guard, Aug. 6), and I commend the planning staff for gathering input and ideas from the medical professionals who will work in these rooms. But it seems that PeaceHealth is lacking the input from the most important group of people who will use those rooms - pregnant women. I sincerely hope that PeaceHealth also will invite pregnant women and mothers to tour these birthing-room mock-ups. It is their experience, their level of comfort and their sense of safety that will prove to be most important. These women's insights could prove essential in creating a birthing space tailored to the needs and preferences of laboring women. A combined effort among the architects and designers, medical professionals, and past and future birthing mothers would make for an environment where women would feel more comfortable giving birth. I encourage PeaceHealth to foster an atmosphere in which clients have an opportunity to communicate exactly how PeaceHealth and its excellent medical staff can best fulfill their needs. (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/12/ed.letters.0812.html Computer infection affects PeaceHealth A viruslike computer worm dubbed "LoveSan" or "blaster" hobbled about 4,000 of the 7,000 personal computers on PeaceHealth's systemwide network Tuesday. The bug disabled computers at PeaceHealth hospitals, clinics and offices from Eugene to Bellingham, Wash., and Ketchikan, Alaska, said Dr. John Haughom, PeaceHealth's vice president in charge of technology. Patient care was not affected, he said. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/14/d2.cr.peacehealthbug.0814.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COST OF HEALTH CARE Prescription drug bill a good buy By Bill Morrisette Commentary in the Register-Guard, 8/2/03, Page A13 The high cost of prescription drugs is creating such a financial burden for Americans - especially seniors - that the state of Maine recently took a bold step and created a plan that allows states to negotiate fair drug prices for all residents, regardless of income level or age, by using the buying power of their Medicaid program. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/12/a13.ed.col.morrisette.0812.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEARBY DEVELOPMENTS Outlook clouded for land grants: Efforts to preserve forest land take a hit when legislators let grants expire From the top of Mount Baldy in the Coburg Hills, the sounds of the city are a whisper on the wind. But the view shouts in all directions: You can see the McKenzie River and fertile farmland, all of Eugene and Springfield, fir-covered buttes, Fern Ridge Lake, the Coast Range, the Cascades and the peaks of the Three Sisters on the horizon. Just as impressive, says Jon Jaqua, is what the community sees when it looks up at his family's land: no development. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/12/a1.lostgrants.0812.html Judge vetoes Best Buy at Gateway Best Buy, scouting the Eugene-Springfield area for a place to put a store, won't be able to move into the vacant former Emporium spot at Gateway Mall in Springfield. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/14/b1.bz.bestbuy.0814.html Day care center planned for bustling Chad Drive area A full-service day care facility is being proposed in the busy Coburg Road-Chad Drive area in northeast Eugene. Michelle Williams and her father, Lee Hughes, last month submitted plans to build an 11,100-square-foot day care facility on 1.2 acres immediately north of the Oregon Community Credit Union headquarters and administration building on Chad Drive. The land is owned by the credit union. The William's Daycare would have room for about 125 children, Michelle Williams said. If approved by the city, the day care center would accept children ages 3 months through fifth grade. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/12/b1.bz.develop.0812.html Walgreens has eye on Springfield area Springfield residents could soon have another place to buy prescription drugs if the Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreen Co. expands its growing pharmacy chain into the Springfield-Eugene area. The company's developer, Powell Development Co. of Kirkland, Wash., has submitted tentative plans to build a 13,505-square-foot drug store on 1.5 acres at 58th and Main Streets, according to city records. (more...) http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2003/08/13/business/news02.txt Replacing The Pit: UO weighs 7 potential sites The University of Oregon has made the tough choice to replace its loved but aging basketball arena. Now comes what arguably may be the hardest part: where to put it. UO President Dave Frohnmayer must decide whether the Ducks should stick close to the nest or migrate to some other part of town. It's a choice fraught with at least as many opportunities to upset legions of basketball fans, UO students, alumni and city residents as the decision to send McArthur Court into retirement as a recreational sports center. Frohnmayer already has cut a list of 20 potential sites down to seven. He's expected to pick the winner - or at least his first choice - within a month. Until then it's a horse race, and so far Frohnmayer has given little hint of which site might be nosing out the others coming into the stretch. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/14/a1.arena.0814.html Planners see convention benefit of UO arena near courthouse It's been done in Madison, Wis. - a university town often compared to Eugene - and it may just provide a local edge in the increasingly competitive world of convention hosting. A 16,000-seat basketball arena in Eugene's new federal courthouse district would bring vitality to downtown - and not only on game nights, say proponents of the concept. If done along the lines of an arena at the University of Wisconsin, the concourse area outside a new UO arena could provide exhibit or food-court space for downtown conventions. Plus, the arena itself may attract another major hotel with its own convention center to the heart of Eugene, backers say. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/14/a8.arenaside.0814.html 2 area mills receive news of shutdown Weyerhaeuser Co. on Friday announced that it will permanently shut its laminated lumber mill in Junction City and its cardboard plant in North Bend, eliminating nearly 200 jobs. The moves were announced on the same day but are otherwise unrelated, the company said. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/16/a1.weyco.0816.html Bulldozer: Developers push to pop the urban growth boundary Developers and land speculators are pushing to explode Eugene's urban growth boundary (UGB) to cash in on urban sprawl. "The top agenda item for the local and state right wing is expanding the urban growth boundary," says Eugene City Councilor Bonny Bettman. Last month, the developer bulldozer for sprawl gained traction when the Eugene city council majority voted to meet with the Lane Metro Partnership business group to discuss allowing city development to spill into rural areas. Jack Roberts, who has lobbied for UGB expansion as director of the Metro Partnership, urged the City Council on July 14 to move to expand the UGB by conducting a study of the need for more land for development. Roberts cited a pair of 2001 Eugene Chamber of Commerce studies and lobbying by local housing developers as evidence of the need for moving to expand the growth boundary. "This is something that should be done," he said. The Chamber study of industrial lands concluded that the city needed to add up to 2,000 acres of industrial land to the urban growth boundary within the next 20 years. That's enough land for more than 1,500 football fields. A companion Chamber study concluded that the city needed to add up to 800 more acres of commercial lands to the UGB. That would sprawl strip mall and box store development over the equivalent of about another 600 football fields of rural farm and forest land. Lauri Segel, Lane County planning advocate for 1000 Friends of Oregon, says the Chamber studies' calls for huge UGB expansions are laughably biased. "It's just hilarious." (more...) http://www.eugeneweekly.com/archive/08_14_03/coverstory.html Property tax breaks worthwhile, study shows By Bruce Blonigen Commentary in the Register-Guard, 8/14/03, Page A15 CORRECTION (ran 8/15/03): Due to an editing error, an Internet address for a study cited in Bruce Blonigen's Aug. 14 guest viewpoint was incorrect. The study can be found at . The study, by two University of Oregon honors students, compared the economic benefits provided to the community by Hynix to the tax breaks the company received. Despite the headline in the Aug. 10 Register-Guard ("Unlucky Breaks"), the articles on the effects of the local enterprise zones most likely left the objective reader with a sense of ambiguity regarding what we know about the effects of such incentives on our community. The reporters detail the tax breaks, initial jobs, and job creation of the many firms that have benefited from the enterprise zone's tax breaks. They also note that small companies seem to be flourishing, but that it is less certain the substantial tax breaks given to the largest firms are worth it to the Eugene-Springfield area. Lots of questions remain. What has been the employment history of area firms not enjoying enterprise zone benefits? Which firms would be here regardless of the tax breaks? (Interestingly, it may be the small firms, not the large ones.) Given the (in)conclusions of the evidence presented in The Register-Guard's articles, one possible reaction is a frustration that no one has done a systematic study of the positive and negative effects of offering large tax breaks to a particular firm of interest in the Eugene-Springfield area. Ironically, there has been such a study - one that The Register-Guard knew about a least a month before the articles appeared. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/14/a15.ed.col.blonigen.0814.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRANSPORTATION Councilors reconsider road fees Faced with an imminent repeal attempt, Eugene city councilors fudged Monday night on the transportation system maintenance fee they adopted earlier this year. Four councilors said they favor repealing an ordinance authorizing the street repair fee rather than stand in the way of a potential juggernaut of an initiative petition drive launched earlier in the day by the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce. Three others said they want to move ahead with implementing the fee that would be collected from all residents, businesses and agencies in the city. One councilor and Mayor Jim Torrey - who would be called upon to break a tie vote - favored delaying collection of the fee until other options can be explored with Springfield and Lane County officials. The Eugene council is expected to hash out its differences Wednesday and pick a direction on the street fee. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/12/d1.cr.transportfee.0812.html Eugene likely to join Springfield in cutting of maintenance fees Residents appear to be off the hook. The cities of Springfield and Eugene won't ask them to pay more this fall for monthly city services. The Eugene City Council is poised to follow Springfield's lead and repeal the transportation system maintenance fee today when it meets. (more...) http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2003/08/13/local/news03.txt Council drops fee to pay for roadwork CORRECTION (ran 8/15/03): The front-page story about the Eugene City Council's repeal of a proposed road maintenance fee incorrectly quoted Councilor Bonny Bettman's statement about the amount of money spent annually on road projects in Eugene. $80 million to $120 million is spent annually in the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area. The Eugene City Council voted 5-3 on Wednesday to repeal a controversial road maintenance fee it passed in December intended to help it catch up on an estimated $93 million backlog of roadwork. The fee would have raised about $5.5 million annually but faced a possible May referendum election, launched Monday by the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce. Councilor Scott Meisner, who moved to repeal, said the fee is doomed in any election. Continuing to push the fee would make it the focus of debate while foreclosing talks among officials from the county and other cities to develop a regional approach to road maintenance funding that would benefit all residents. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/14/a1.roadfee.0814.html New road to funding? Eugene's elimination of controversial new road fees clears the way for both cities to work with Lane County on a better solution. So says Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken, responding to the Eugene council's 5-3 vote this week to repeal a planned fee meant to address an estimated $93 million backlog of roadwork. The Springfield council eliminated its plan for the fee in June. Both cities need money for road maintenance, and - with the elimination of fees that Commissioners Bill Dwyer and Bobby Green strongly opposed - the county board is likely to be receptive to doling out more money, Leiken said. Leiken said he and Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey hope to gauge the needs of cities across the county by the end of September. Then they'll work with the commissioners on how to balance the cities' needs for maintenance with the county's need to accommodate current and future projects, Leiken said. (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/16/b1.cr.spcitybeat.0816.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER NEWS County interviews go on hold for commissioners The seven candidates for the soon-to-be vacant seat on the Lane County Board of Commissioners will have to wait for their interviews. Commissioner Anna Morrison was hospitalized late last week with blood clots, which forced the postponement. Morrison is home from the hospital and is expected to slowly, but fully, recover, according to Melinda Kletzok, the county's spokeswoman. The interviews will be rescheduled once Morrison is able to return to work, Kletzok said. Commissioner Tom Liniger, who represents District 5, will leave the board on Aug. 16 to pursue work at the University of Oregon Law School. (end) http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2003/08/13/local/news09.txt Lininger thankful for chance to serve After serving for eight months as a Lane County commissioner, Tom Lininger left office Friday with high praise for his colleagues on the five-member board. "I feel that taken together, they really represent well the diversity of people in Lane County," Lininger said. "I doubt there's a person in the county who can't find his or her point of view represented somewhere on the board." Lininger won election to the board in the May 2002 primary, but announced about the time he took his seat in January that he had received an offer he couldn't refuse - a tenured position on the faculty of the University of Oregon Law School. Choosing between the worlds of politics and academe didn't come easy then and it's still hard to reconcile now, Lininger said. He quit his previous job as a federal prosecutor to spend two years running for office and "daydreaming about all the things I could do as a county commissioner," pouring a significant amount of his own money into his $40,000 campaign. Even after he accepted the UO position, Lininger tried to wangle an extension to his starting date there, but university officials wouldn't budge. He starts Monday as a law professor. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/16/b1.cr.lininger.0816.html Sherman promoted at The News Jaime Sherman has moved into a new position at The Springfield News. She assumed the duties of news editor Aug. 4. The post was created by Editor Larry Berteau in a reshuffling of newsroom duties following the departure of Jonnie Gratton. Gratton took the editor's position at the Cottage Grove Sentinel, also on Aug. 4. "In a relatively short period of time, Sherman has attained a keen grasp of local news," Berteau said. "Readers will be well-served by her rise into an editor's slot. It was an easy choice for me to make." Sherman will continue with her two main areas of reporting, covering the city and police beats. "I look forward to the continued excitement of covering city issues and expanding my responsibilities at The News," Sherman said. Chris Miller will be added to the reporting staff Aug. 25, coming from the Ashland Daily. (end) http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2003/08/13/local/news07.txt