Health Options Digest
July 25, 2004
Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES)
In This Issue
From the Editor
Week In Review
Tom Bowerman and others continue to question PeaceHealth's ideas about a "healing environment" at RiverBend.
Meanwhile, a company called The Sky Factory will be at a trade show in Boston marketing "SkyCeilings" and "Luminous Virtual Windows" for patient facilities. The company claims that these virtual healing environments provide benefits.
The Oregonian is finally taking note of "Musical Hospitals" in Eugene and Springfield. Seems it is unusual for not just one but two hospitals looking to entirely rebuild their facilities, especially a community our size.
PeaceHealth wrote to Eugene and Springfield to dispel the "rumor" that they have purchased the Sony site. Insofar as neither we nor anyone else we have talked to had heard that rumor, we wonder if PeaceHealth is the one starting a rumor.
McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center reached a tentative labor agreement with its service employees.
The U.S. Postal Service is considering switching Glenwood from Eugene's 97403 zip code to Springfield's 97403 zip code. As Glenwood is now administered by Springfield, the switch makes sense. But the switch would also have the odd effect of allowing McKenzie-Willamette to relocate to Glenwood without having to go through a costly certificate of need process that they currently would have to go through. That actions by the U.S. Postal Service could have such a significant effect on hospital siting issues points up just how loony Oregon's hospital siting rules are.
The Lane Individual Practice Association, a physician-owned company known as LIPA, will have a chance to respond to a preliminary state report that LIPA treated clients, providers and vendors so poorly at times that it violated state and federal regulations.
State health officials received necessary federal approval to revamp the Oregon Health Plan on August 1.
Technology is playing an increasing role in health care. The Business Journal of Portland reported that "the Regence Group has found a way to deliver low-cost 'e-visits,' or virtual medical consultations, to its members without investing capital to build or buy a specially designed system." Meanwhile, doctors are training on virtual patients.
The Associated Press reported that "enrollment in the government health program for children of the working poor declined slightly in the second half of last year, the first drop in its seven-year history, according to a study released Friday by the Kaiser Family Foundation."
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Looking Ahead
Sometimes an outside perspective is helpful. The Oregonian reported:
"The country as a whole is witnessing a hospital building boom, according to Alwyn Cassil at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Studying Health System Change. Hospitals built in the decades after World War II are in need of updating, remodeling or replacement, Cassil said. 'Interests rates are still low, and it's a good time to borrow money.'
"Most Oregon hospitals have opted to upgrade or renovate rather than to completely rebuild, said Jana Fussell, coordinator of Oregon's Certificate of Need program. To have two hospitals in the same community planning to replace their facilities at the same time is unusual, Fussell said."
With medical technology -- and economics -- changing fast, it is hard to know what facilities will be needed 100 years from now, or even 20 years from now. E-visits, virtual patients and even virtual "healing environments" are just a few of the possibilities.
While CHOICES appreciates the need for adequate hospital facilities for our community, it bears stressing that facilities don't heal people -- people heal people. We continue to urge those involved to look for innovative approaches and creative partnerships to assure our community the best possible health care to the most residents at an affordable cost. Towards this end, we remain skeptical that it is really necessary to swap two hospitals.
Next week we will continue to bring you the usual voices and perhaps some unusual ones...
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Rob Zako, Editor
343-5201
rzako@efn.org
Opportunities
Commissioners Ask Citizens for Input in Solving Budget Problems
Contact: David Garnick, 682.3694; or John Arnold, 682.3384
How do you go about planning to spend $52.1 millionÉif you must spend it on providing services to citizens? The Lane County Board of Commissioners are asking for volunteers for a short-term Service Stabilization Task Force to help scrutinize the County's budget and make recommendations that address a continuing Budget shortfall.
"The County's General fund has a structural deficit. Expenses are rising on average of six percent annually, while revenue is capped at three percent per year. Lane County is the steward of the public's funds, so we want active citizen involvement and input on this," said Lane County Commissioner Chair Bobby Green. "The Board of Commissioners continues to affirm that Lane County be a general purpose government. To appropriately address levels of service that can be consistently delivered over time, the Board wants information from citizens on how to balance service levels with available resources."
The Service Stabilization Task Force will consist of nine citizen members; one appointed by each commissioner and four at-large members. The at-large appointments will be reviewed and selected by the Board with consideration given to an appropriate balance of diversity. Applications are due July 30 by 5 p.m. (see below for application information). After members are appointed, they will convene on August 10 at 6:30 p.m. and will initially meet every other week. The group's charge will be to forward their recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners by the end of October.
Recommendations will address whether or how to pursue the following strategies:
1) Live within the budget on an annual basis
2) Reduce cost factors that drive the deficit
3) "Right size" the organization so the service delivery system is stable for a number or years. Include as part of the recommendation how many years the County should engage in this strategy
4) Pursue revenue
5) If pursuit of revenue is selected, the Task Force shall also evaluate the wisdom of advancing a law enforcement district proposal to the citizens in November 2006, in addition to any other recommendation it has regarding revenue pursuit.
6) Any other strategies available to address the structural deficit
To apply for an at-large position, interested citizens can contact Lane County Administration at 682.4203 or click on this link:
Service Stabilization Task Force Application <http://www.co.lane.or.us/news/documents/ApplicationTaskForceform.pdf%gt;
Send by mail or bring in to:
Lane County Commissioners Office, 125 E. 8th Ave., Eugene, OR 97401
For more information, contact David Garnick, 682-3694; or John Arnold, 682-3384.
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City seeking volunteers for public committees
| The Register-Guard | July 20, 2004 |
The city of Eugene is looking for residents to serve on public committees.
Openings are available on the Budget Committee, two; Planning Commission, two; Human Rights Commission, five; Toxics Board, (must meet specific criteria) three; Historic Review Board, four; and the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority, one.
The recruiting period will last until Sept. 24, including an effort during the Eugene Celebration, Sept. 17-19.
Application information is available at the City Manager's Office, Room 105, City Hall, 777 Pearl St., or from www.ci.eugene.or.us.
For more information, contact Mary Walston at the City Manager's Office at 682-5406 or mary.f.walston@ci.eugene.or.us
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PeaceHealth
Tom Bowerman -- Hospital siting unrelated to healing
By Tom Bowerman
The Register-Guard | July 23, 2004 |
The July 7 guest viewpoint by two members of the Peace- Health board of directors touting the RiverBend hospital site criticized The Register-Guard for having too much coverage of land use disputes and too little about healing. It's possible that the opinion was written before the July 4 article, "New hospitals may gleam at a price -- costlier health care," on the relationship of hospital relocation to the cost of care.
The "musical hospitals game they've got going in Lane County is ludicrous and it's going to cost everyone," according to an insurance executive quoted in that article. By the time public infrastructure and associated support facilities are complete, close to $1 billion will have been spent. The resultant escalating costs of care will limit affordable access and will even preclude care for some of us.
Does this promote healing? (more...)
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Letter -- RiverBend is really pretty noisy
By Chuck Schmitt, Springfield
The Register-Guard | July 24, 2004 |
Not long ago, Sacred Heart Medical Center ran TV ads showing the new hospital in the RiverBend setting depicting lovely rooms where not just the patients, but family as well could enjoy the peaceful environs. I had to chuckle. Then there was the recent guest viewpoint about the healing, serene nature alongside the river, and I laughed so much that tears flowed.
Apparently, none of these folks have actually spent any time at this peaceful spot, else they would be aware of the true nature of the waterfowl gathering area at the river's bend and what happens during the birding season.
Every morning half an hour before official sunrise -- bang! boom! pow! -- rattles the windows. And that's just during the week. On Saturdays and Sundays, the number of hunters triples. The season lasts throughout the fall, or about one-quarter of the year.
I'm not knocking hunters. They have every right to be there.
Then there are the power boaters droning up and down the river all year long. Not to mention the search and rescue swamp sled propelled by an unmuffled aircraft engine.
In the weeks around the Fourth of July, people bring their often illegal fireworks down at all hours and light 'em up. And all this noise reflects nicely off the bluffs along the north bank.
I hope all the doctors have a steady hand in the operating room -- bang! -- that the intensive care unit is soundproofed -- blam! -- and that anyone wishing to get well -- boom! -- can arrange their stay for another time of year.
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A "Natural" Way to Increase Patient Satisfaction
| The Sky Factory | July 22, 2004 |
From: The Sky Factory, aurelc@theskyfactory.com
Date: Thursday, July 22, 2004, 6:49 pm
Subject: News from The Sky Factory -- July 2004
A "Natural" Way to Increase Patient Satisfaction
The experience of nature -- a beautiful tree or an expansive sky -- reminds and even reconnects us with the laws of nature that operate within our minds and bodies. This soothing, natural experience is provided to patients by incorporating SkyCeilings and Luminous Virtual Windows into facility designs.
It is a pleasure to hear from our clients that their SkyCeilings are working as intended! Barb Brown of Memorial Lighthouse Imaging Center in South Bend, Indiana shared the following with us:
"We love the SkyTiles and receive so many favorable comments about them! While reviewing our Patient Satisfaction Survey results at our CQI Committee Meeting, it was so gratifying to read the patient comments praising the dŽcor and facility appearance. The SkyTiles are admired by nearly everyone who sets foot into the facility. Patients and visitors frequently comment on how relaxed the SkyTiles make them feel."
If you would like to view a SkyCeiling first hand, please visit The Sky Factory, Booth 609, at the upcoming AHRA Meeting in Boston -- August 1-5, 2004. Guest Passes are available upon request. Please call Nancy Green at 866-759-3228, extension 200. Please click through to our Exhibitions Schedule for more information on this and other meetings.
If you wish to be removed from our mailing list please reply with "remove" in the subject line.
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Turf war snarls Eugene-area hospitals
A lawsuit holds up a Eugene hospital's plan to build in Springfield, which has a hospital seeking a new site in Eugene
By Alice Tallmadge
The Oregonian | July 25, 2004 |
EUGENE -- When PeaceHealth announced in 2001 that it would be pulling up its Eugene stakes and building a nine-story, $350 million Sacred Heart Medical Center along the McKenzie River in northeast Springfield, it set in motion an epic drama of shifting loyalties, corporate dueling and land-use wrangling.
Almost three years later, not a spadeful of dirt has been dug at the proposed RiverBend site, and PeaceHealth finds itself stymied by court rulings that have delayed it for at least another year.
Meanwhile, PeaceHealth's regional rival, Springfield-based McKenzie-Willamette Hospital, has announced plans to pull up its Springfield roots and build a new hospital across the Willamette River in Eugene.
The financially ailing underdog was purchased last year by Texas-based Triad Hospitals, Inc., a move that dismayed some long-time hospital supporters who remember holding bake sales and collecting donations door-to-door to finance the Springfield community hospital. Now a for-profit entity sporting some financial backbone, the hospital is poised to build a 120-bed, $85 million hospital as soon as it secures a suitable site.
But the plot of the city-swapping hospitals has been so replete with unpredictable moves and counter-moves that even close observers are hesitant to venture a guess about the outcome. (more...)
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More on Sony site
Date: Tuesday, July 20, 2004, 8:11 pm
Subject: More on Sony site
From: Jenny Ulum
To: Springfield City Manager's Office, Eugene Mayor and Council
CC: Dennis Taylor
Here is some additional detail on the story on the possible purchase of the Sony site by PeaceHealth. We will keep you apprised of developments.
-- Jenny Ulum
Update from PeaceHealth
Within the past 24 hours you've probably heard that PeaceHealth has purchased the Sony plant in Springfield. We do not speculate on possible land acquisitions, and so will only announce a purchase when agreement has been reached and finalized. Suffice it to say that we have not signed any Purchase Agreement to acquire the property, nor have we been authorized to purchase the property by the system Board of Directors, a requirement for any purchase of this magnitude.
Along with many other potential buyers, PeaceHealth has explored acquiring Sony as well as other facilities to help ease the space shortage on our Hilyard campus. With recent delays at RiverBend, we need an interim strategy to cope with our space limitations, which are projected to reach critical levels in the not-too-distant future. It is unacceptable to us to allow space constraints to compromise patient care.
Any space that can be gained at Hilyard by moving services off-site will allow the hospital to free up rooms for conversion to patient care uses. The Sony site appealed to us because of its proximity to RiverBend and its potential to eventually support services at that campus.
No final agreement has been reached on the Sony or any other particular site. We remain interested in the Sony site. If and when there is a final agreement to acquire any site, you will be among the first to know.
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McKenzie-Willamette/Triad
Employees picket ahead of today's labor talks
By Tim Christie
The Register-Guard | July 20, 2004 |
SPRINGFIELD -- On the eve of federally mediated labor negotiations, workers sought Monday to put community pressure on the management of McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center by picketing the hospital.
About 40 workers, staff and supporters of the Service Employees International Union Local 49 carried signs and walked along the Mohawk Boulevard sidewalk under a scorching afternoon sun.
The workers, though their contract expired June 30, are not on strike. The informational picketing is meant to garner public support and inform the community about the workers' position. (more...)
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Hospital, union find agreement on contract
By Tim Christie
The Register-Guard | July 23, 2004 |
SPRINGFIELD -- Negotiators for McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center and Service Employees International Union Local 49 have reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year labor contract.
The agreement was reached about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, hospital spokeswoman Rosie Pryor and SEIU organizer Erik Haunold said.
Union members plan to vote on the proposed contract, which would replace an agreement that expired June 30, next Thursday. Haunold said union negotiators will recommend that members ratify the contract.
The two sides had been able to reach agreement on main sticking points of wages and benefits after two days of talks overseen by a federal mediator. (more...)
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Glenwood ZIP code change would help hospital
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | July 22, 2004 |
Glenwood residents will decide their own ZIP code, and it could mean an easier move for McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center if the hospital winds up relocating to the small riverside community.
The City of Springfield is asking Glenwood residents to decide whether to keep their current 97403 Eugene ZIP code or to switch to Springfield's 97477. The city's request is prompted by the fact that Glenwood lies within the Springfield Urban Growth Boundary, but outside city limits. And with plans for sewer trunk lines to extend to Glenwood, residents linking up will be required to annex into Springfield, which could create the unusual circumstance where a Springfield home has a Eugene mailing address if residents want to keep their current five digits.
The city's decision to let Glenwood residents vote could be to McKenzie-Willamette's advantage, but hospital Spokeswoman Rosie Pryor said the hospital is not involved with the possible code change. (more...)
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Letter -- Suddenly changing address isn't so hard
By Bill Smee, Springfield
The Springfield News | July 23, 2004 |
One of the arguments used by Springfield leaders, and others, against the renaming of Centennial to Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard was that it would be too much of a bother for people living along the thoroughfare to change their addresses.
Now, the residents of Glenwood are being asked to change their addresses (the zip code part, from 97403 to 97477). One can only wonder why this change is not considered to be as much an inconvenience.
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Letter -- EWEB site has lots of problems
By Fran Gillespie, Eugene
The Register-Guard | July 23, 2004 |
Putting the new McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center at the Eugene Water & Electric Board site is a bad idea. The Ferry Street bridge area is perhaps even more congested then the existing Sacred Heart Medical Center site. The EWEB site is in a flood zone. Access in the downtown core to this oddly placed piece of property is not good.
Aside from the bad location, EWEB would likely need to raise our rates even more than it already has to move and rebuild, making our utility rates higher than ever.
There are better sites for a new Eugene hospital -- out of the congested core dissected by a railroad track, flood zone and busy Ferry Street bridge. No decent planner would find this site appropriate for a hospital.
The city of Eugene will need a new hospital once Sacred Heart leaves town. It was the Eugene City Council's insistence that the hospital remain in the downtown core that caused Sacred Heart to decide to leave town in the first place.
I hope we learned a lesson from that. We must find a better site.
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Letter -- Personal care helps healing
By Lynne Radeleff, Blue River
The Register-Guard | July 24, 2004 |
Recently, I had the privilege -- and I do consider it a privilege -- to undergo two surgeries and a 10-day stay on the surgical floor at McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center. Everyone -- doctors, registered nurses, certified nursing assistants, kitchen staff, case management department, secretaries, technicians -- made my stay a very pleasant experience and helped speed my recovery. My care was excellent, the food outstanding and I was treated like a princess.
A small-town hospital can offer so much more personal care and concern than a big-city hospital. It saddens me to think McKenzie-Willamette must move and become a larger hospital. My hope is that it retains the high level of excellence in care it currently exhibits, and that all the wonderful people who work for McKenzie-Willamette will move with the hospital.
I appreciate everyone who had a part in making my hospital stay so pleasant. I'm well along on the recovery road.
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Health Care
Insurer to get its chance to respond to allegations
By Tim Christie
The Register-Guard | July 23, 2004 |
A state investigation into alleged mistreatment of poor and disabled clients by the insurance company that administers the Oregon Health Plan in Lane County may be nearing a turning point.
A preliminary report in May found that the Lane Individual Practice Association, a physician-owned company known as LIPA, treated clients, providers and vendors so poorly at times that it violated state and federal regulations.
State investigators said in the preliminary report that LIPA officials treated clients rudely and disrespectfully; required them to submit information repeatedly; delayed responses to requests for authorizations and based denials on technicalities; and failed to share information or provide clear, understandable explanations about services or procedures to clients.
The result had the "potential effect of denying medically appropriate care, particularly for the special needs population," the report said.
Company officials have acknowledged they need to improve their customer service, but took issue with the harsh tone of the report.
Now investigators from the state Office of Medical Assistance Programs are preparing to turn over some of their supporting evidence to LIPA executives so the company can prepare a response. LIPA requested the information under the state's public records law. (more...)
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Feds clear state's plan to revamp health plan
Officials plan to make changes and reduce enrollment in standard coverage so the program stays within budget
By Don Colburn
The Oregonian | July 24, 2004 |
With hours to spare, state health officials received necessary federal approval Friday afternoon to revamp the Oregon Health Plan on Aug. 1.
The federal go-ahead allows Oregon to restore some benefits and trim others for low-income people covered by OHP Standard. That's the arm of the Oregon Health Plan covering single and childless adults who don't automatically qualify for Medicaid but have incomes below the poverty line. (more...)
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Editorial -- Prescription for Trouble
| The New York Times | July 19, 2004 |
When the Bush administration pushed its Medicare drug bill through a reluctant Congress, even supporters knew there were flaws that would have to be corrected. The fact that no serious fixes have been made, or even proposed by the White House, suggests that the whole impetus for the idea had more to do with presidential politics than with health care policy. Now, as the defects loom wider than ever, even the program's political appeal may be eroding. (more...)
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'E-visits' have potential to cut rising medical costs
By Robin J. Moody, Business Journal staff writer
The Business Journal of Portland | July 16, 2004 |
The Regence Group has found a way to deliver low-cost "e-visits," or virtual medical consultations, to its members without investing capital to build or buy a specially designed system.
The Regence Group is promoting Medem, a communication network that includes secure messaging and online consultations, to its 3 million members, its physicians and its network of insurance brokers. (more...)
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Virtual patients put doctors to the test
By Linda Johnson
The Associated Press | July 19, 2004 |
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- The days of new doctors practicing on real patients may be numbered.
Today, many doctors in training are making their first diagnoses -- and their first mistakes -- on plastic, wires and computer circuits rather than flesh and blood. These virtual patients come in different shapes and sizes, much like the real ones.
Some are almost lifelike mannequins with plastic ears and hair, veins that can be injected, eyes that can move and interchangeable genitals. They can't be hurt or killed, even though they have a pulse, a beating heart and lungs that breathe. The most sophisticated can be programmed to simulate every imaginable medical crisis and then respond as a doctor works on the "patient."
Other, virtual reality-type simulators combine video or computer images with tactile feedback. Trainees insert needles or surgical tools into a plastic box whose innards give the sensation of cutting flesh or pushing through body parts such as the throat or colon. A video screen shows what a doctor would watch during the procedure, such as ultrasound images. (more...)
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Children's Health
Health program insures fewer kids
| The Associated Press | July 24, 2004 |
WASHINGTON, DC -- Enrollment in the government health program for children of the working poor declined slightly in the second half of last year, the first drop in its seven-year history, according to a study released Friday by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The largest decrease in the State Children's Health Insurance Program occurred in Texas, the result of cuts state lawmakers imposed to deal with a budget shortfall. Nearly 75,000 children lost coverage in Texas, the foundation said.
Other states with sizable drops in enrollment were Maryland and New York. About 23,000 children lost coverage in each state, although some continue to receive health care through Medicaid.
Nationally, there were 3.93 million children in SCHIP in December, down from the peak enrollment of 3.96 million children in June.
Enrollment declined in 11 states and Washington, D.C., enough to offset increases in 37 states.
The federal and state governments share the costs of both Medicaid and SCHIP.
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Nearby Developments
Urban renewal measure: Title first, specifics later
By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard | July 24, 2004 |
With summer moving right along, Springfield officials are fast-tracking efforts to get urban renewal on the November ballot.
City Manager Mike Kelly says the City Council will be asked at its meeting Aug. 16 to approve a ballot title for a measure creating an urban renewal district in Glenwood and downtown, even though specific plans for the proposed districts won't be ready by then.
That's because waiting any longer would push the city past the filing deadline for the November election. "Maybe that's not the best way to do it," Kelly said Friday. "But there's going to be tremendous competition on the ballot in 2006," the next time the city could go to its voters.
Kelly anticipates that both Lane County and the Springfield School District will ask for voter approval of bond issues or tax levies in 2006, making it harder for the city to get anything approved then. (more...)
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Mill Race may become important part of town again
By Katherine Gries
The Springfield News | July 23, 2004 |
Ed Black, maintenance manager for the City of Springfield, has a plan.
For 15 years he has envisioned a restored Springfield Mill Race and the ecological and cultural benefits that could spring from the renewed area.
On Wednesday evening, Black led a group of about 15 participants on a tour of the Mill Race. The occasion was the Middle Fork Willamette Watershed Council's annual summer field tour.
Black also provided information to the group about Springfield's alliance with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Corps' Mill Race Ecosystem Restoration project. He spoke about the historic aspects of the Mill Race as well as the future of the restoration project. (more...)
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Reserve Center
WASHINGTON, DC -- A new Armed Forces Reserve Center for Lane County is one step closer to reality.
The US House of Representatives has approved more than 12.6 million dollars for construction of the new armory.
The new complex will replace the current Eugene armory and two antiquated reserve facilities.
By combining the agencies on a 27 acre lot near Marcola... the federal government looks to reduce operations and maintence costs by 25 percent annually.
The legislation must still pass the Senate and be signed by the President. The Senate isn't expected to vote on it until September.
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House approves funding to build reserve complex
| The Register-Guard | July 24, 2004 |
The House of Representatives approved legislation Friday that includes $12.6 million for construction of a new Armed Forces Reserve Center in Lane County.
The funding was included in the Military Construction Appropriations Act for 2005. (more...)
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Parks district will ask voters for cash
By Christopher Stollar
The Springfield News | July 23, 2004 |
They want more than a gym.
The Willamalane Park and Recreation District met again Wednesday to discuss putting a bond measure before voters this November about a 10-year bond to build a recreation center at Willamalane Park Swim Center as a replacement for the Memorial Building on 765 A St.
But after listening to architect Carl Sherwood, the Willamalane directors said the $4 million project discussed in June may need to increase to the $4.5 million level, allowing for spaces that the community could use for clubs and weddings -- not just basketball games. (more...)
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Springfield to study city jail ideas
By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard | July 20, 2004 |
SPRINGFIELD -- Fed up with crime and a revolving door at the Lane County Jail, the City Council edged closer Monday night to building its own 100-bed municipal jail.
Though no vote was taken, the council asked the city staff to report back in August with specific proposals to build a new public safety facility in downtown Springfield that would include a municipal court, a prosecutor's office and a city jail.
The proposed facility, to be located on city property between A and C streets just north of the existing police station, would cost as much as $27.6 million and require passage of a bond measure, possibly at the November election. It would replace the half-century-old police station and municipal court, which councilors toured Monday evening. (more...)
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City Council kicks around jail idea
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | July 21, 2004 |
Springfield Officer Justin Halgren walks past the current police station's outdated holding cells.SAM KARP The Springfield News
Keeping inmates behind bars may become Springfield's new enterprise.
City Council members unofficially considered the concept of a new public safety facility, complete with a 100-bed municipal jail. But before the new facility is decided on -- and before the ball can roll into the voters' court in November -- councilors requested that city staff come back in August with a firmer proposal, which would include a public safety facility plan and the costs associated.
Councilors weighed a number of possible options for what the public safety facility would house, including the police, fire administration, municipal court and city prosecutor functions, and a city jail. The possible inclusion of a fire station and fire administration offices at the same location was less attractive to council, but a jail did gather support in light of capacity issues facing the Lane County Jail. (more...)
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Voters To Decide on New Police Station
For the third time in four years, the city of Eugene is going to ask voters for a new police station. Right now, the police department is part of City Hall, an older building at risk of crumbling in a large earthquake. The city council wants voters to approve a measure to sell bonds to pay for part of a new police building. (more...)
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Public Private Partnership
EUGENE -- Eugene's top cop is hoping voters say yes to his multi-million dollar idea. It is a new police station that would include something different: space for non-profit organizations that help crime victims. (more...)
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City to try again for police station bond
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | July 22, 2004 |
Eugene voters in November will be asked to approve a $6.79 million bond issue to help pay for a new police station and downtown public amenities, a divided City Council tentatively decided Wednesday.
The city has enough money to build a police station along East Eighth Avenue, between Pearl and High streets, south of City Hall. However, councilors decided to ask voters for the bond measure so the building could house victim service agencies and meet space needs until 2018. (more...)
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Deal for bakery emerges in quest for new UO pavilion
By Greg Bolt
The Register-Guard | July 23, 2004 |
Construction of a new University of Oregon basketball arena on the site of the current Williams' Bakery has moved tantalizingly closer, with bakery officials shopping for a new home and the company's executive saying he believes the UO will end up buying the current one. (more...)
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Eugene to Get Its First Super Walmart
Walmart is famous for "rolling back prices." Now, it's about to roll out a new supercenter in West Eugene. Eugene's Planning Director signed off on the expansion project for the W. 11th store Friday morning.
Recently, some groups tried to keep Walmart from getting larger. The nation's largest retailer often takes the heat from people who don't like big box retail stores. Some disagree with Walmart's labor practices, while others worry the store will threaten small businesses.
The city code doesn't take sides on the issue, and efforts to change the code failed for lack of support. To expand, Walmart had to prove it addressed traffic and environmental concerns. Once it did, planners handed over the special permit it needs to become a supercenter. Tom Coyle, Executive Diretor for Planning & Development, explains, "The rules you come in with, that are in place the day you walk in the door to file an application are the rules you get reviewed against, and the council and the community has been advised of that as this project has gone forward."
As always, land use issues are open to appeal. But, Walmart is moving forward with the 70 thousand square foot addition, which includes a grocery store.
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Editorial -- Pay attention, Eugene: Mayor's committee proves compromise can work
| The Register-Guard | July 22, 2004 |
Environmentalists care more about bugs than business. Business people don't give a rip about polluting the air or water. Wages here are embarrassingly low. Artificial wage boosts will stampede employers and strangle job growth.
Enterprise zones are corporate welfare. Without enterprise zones, Eugene can't even compete with Springfield for new business, much less Spokane. There is plenty of developable land inside the urban growth boundary. Oh yeah? Where's an accurate list of "shovel-ready" commercial and industrial sites?
Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey has heard it all before, but his eight years as the tie-breaking vote on a divided City Council have imbued him with pathological optimism that compromise is always possible. Even on economic development.
And you know what? It only took Torrey's 15-member citizen Committee on Economic Development four months to produce a solid set of recommendations that prove he was right. Moreover, the group's final report confirmed that both Kitty Piercy, winner of the Eugene mayoral race in the May primary election, and her opponent, City Councilor Nancy Nathanson, championed strategies very similar to those endorsed by Torrey's committee. (more...)
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Cleaning up the neighborhood
Students in the Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management will map 'problem areas' in the West University neighborhood this fall
By Meghann M. Cuniff, Freelance Reporter
Oregon Daily Emerald | July 15, 2004 |
Broken beer bottles. Loud parties. Drug-addicted bums. The occasional riot. The West University neighborhood, home to thousands of students, has always had its share of problems, which some say has led to a rocky relationship with the University.
"It really is almost a love-hate relationship between the neighborhood and the University," said Deborah Healy, board secretary of the West University Neighborhood Association.
The West University Neighborhood Association and the University have been searching for a way to establish a healthy relationship that can benefit everyone involved. This fall term the Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management is offering a course that aims to do just that.
[PHOTO: School of Planning, Public Policy and Management Assistant Professor Marc Schlossberg explains how, through the use of iPaq Pocket PC' and GIS (Geographic Information Systems), students in his Applied GIS and Social Planning class will be able to precisely map the West University neighborhood.]
Students in Assistant Professor Marc Schlossberg's Applied Geographic Information Systems and Social Planning class will work with West University neighborhood residents to create a computerized map of the area using hand-held mapping devices. Using these maps, planners can figure out where the problem areas are in the neighborhood and help beautify the area by adding more lighting or garbage and recycling facilities, Healy said.The mapping devices can record information about an area, such as tree location and garbage can placement, and make it available in graphic layers. People viewing the map can choose which layer of information they want to see at what time.
The map will serve both as a way for students to apply the technical skills developed in prerequisite courses to a real-life situation and a way for the University to help the West Neighborhood and its leaders build a better community, Schlossberg said. (more...)
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Transportation
One lane of I-105 to close for repair of sinkhole
| The Register-Guard | July 20, 2004 |
SPRINGFIELD -- The right lane of westbound Interstate 105 from Laura Street to the Interstate 5 exit will be closed today from 9 a.m. to noon while road crews repair a sinkhole 4 feet wide and 70 feet long.
The other two lanes of traffic and the exit onto northbound I-5 will remain open during the construction work. A reader board will be placed along the highway to warn motorists of the closure.
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Letter -- LTD squanders taxpayer money
By Michael J. Barker, Eugene
The Register-Guard | July 20, 2004 |
It is nothing short of criminal how Lane Transit District can run roughshod over people's property rights and have carte blanche access to unlawful taxation of private business to run a fleet of oversized, diesel-guzzling, air-polluting buses around all hours of the day, empty or close to it.
Where is the public outrage at the millions being squandered?
Though I've not done a comprehensive study to back my next statement, I'd wager LTD could have bought a good portion, if not all, of its ridership a used car and a year's supply of fuel for what they throw away. This is Eugene, after all. Where are all the pink-lunged ozone crusaders when you need them? LTD hauls them out to the Oregon Country Fair for free?
I wonder if there's a connection between LTD and the $23 million pollywog pond out on Green Hill Road and the guys who keep laying bricks in the roads and then tear them back up, then do it all over again, while complaining about the revolving door on the jail. Lordy, lordy, lordy.
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