I City council passes
development charge
By LARRY JAFFE
Of the Emerald
The issue seemed clear to
former Mayor Les Anderson, who
said, “Shall Eugene continue to
subsidize new development with
out added help from the owners of
new development?”
Evidently the issue wasn't so
simple for council members. After
two hours of debate and public
testimony Monday night, the
Eugene City Council approved
Councilor Jack Delay's resolution
to “move in the direction of a more
equitable system of assessment.”
Although the “systems de
velopment charge,” (SDC) was
approved, the details will have to
be worked out later.
According to Anderson, the
charge would average 1.2 to two
percent of the value of building
permit. The fee would be paid by
developers at the time the building
permit is issued.
Anderson said the plan is de
signed to provide funds to reduce
assessment to property owners
and reduce subsidies to builders.
Currently, adjacent property
owners pay about 60 percent of
the cost for street and sewer im
provements required because of
new construction. City funds sub
sidize the remaining 40 percent.
Anderson estimated the city s
annual subsidy for new services at
about $2 million.
Betty Niven of the Joint Housing
Committee objected to the prop
osed SDC. Niven said builders
would pass on the development
charge to consumers, driving up
the cost of new housing.
James Lemert. University jour
nalism professor, led the public
hearing on the SDC. Lemert read
statements by neighborhood
groups from Hawkins Highlands
and Amazon Parkway favoring
adoption of the SDC.
Lemert also disputed studies
that said an SDC would not work,
claiming one such study did not
exist."
Gilbert Hall, speaking for the
South Hills Neighborhood As
sociation, also favored adoption of
the SDC. Hall said his group was
directly involved, because some
South Hills residents believe they
were unfairly assessed for the
widening of south Willamette
Street in 1976. Hall conceded the
charge would cause housing
costs to rise.
"But it’s better not to be able to
afford a house in the first place,
than to be taxed out of a house
you've lived in for years, he said.
Mary Wall, assistant to Bob
Wood. Lane County commis
sioner. read a statement by Wood
objecting to adoption of the SDC.
The statement said the SDC
would increase the cost of hous
ing. interfere with compact growth
by making it beneficial for people
to build outside the city and be an
unfair increase in the tax burden of
property owners.
Councilor Tom Williams agreed
that the SDC would be an incen
tive for people to move out of the
city.
"In watching employees of ours
over the years (Williams is the
owner of Williams Bakery) I've
found the distance employees live
from the city center is inversely
proportional to income Increase
the cost of housing in Eugene and
you increase the pressure for
blue-collar employees to move
out of the city.
But Councilor Scott Lieuallen
said the SDC would be the most
equitable system of assessment.
He said “I suppose we could
debate it forever. But there's no
system of taxation that's going to
please everyone.
I;ESCAPE heads noon activities
at Bethel junior high schools
By MELODY WARD
Of the Emerald
The ESCAPE program has joined forces with
two Bethel district junior high schools to provide a
unique experience for students and University volun
teers.
‘‘Next year these schools will change from junior
highs to middle schools," explains Mike Bednarek of
ESCAPE. “With that change comes a switch in
philosophy.”
Bednarek says the middle school attempts to
duplicate an elementary school environment more
closely than that of high school to remove pressures
on the students.
‘‘It's more child-oriented than academic
oriented," he says. “In order to get the teachers and
kids thinking along these lines, we've started an ac
tivity period during the lunch time.”
University students receive an hour of upper
division credit for each day they spend participating
in what ESCAPE calls the Bethel Project. Although
this is the third week of the term, interested persons
can still join the program.
“Last term a graduate student in psychology did
a drug information rap group, another lady did
Spanish conversation and a couple people did role
playing," Bednarek recalls. "The administration and
faculties of the district are amazingly supportive."
The activity session is non-graded and stresses
cooperative learning.
Because the kids are at different levels, we re
trying to give them an environment where they can
grow without the pressure to conform, Bednarek
explains.
The project involves nearly 1,000 junior high
school kids, the faculties of each school and Univer
sity students who wish to participate.
"Anybody in secondary education can do this to
fulfill their practicum requirement for student teach
ing. Bednarek adds. "But this is certainly not re
stricted to education majors."
Among the activities being offered this term are
disco dancing, stained glass, winter recreation,
photography, fly tying and creative writing.
The list of possibilities is endless and ESCAPE
welcomes people who would like to create and teach
their own programs.
"There are lots of kids who need more atten
tion,' Bednarek says. “Junior high is a growing, test
ing and challenging period in their development."
Interested students can register at the ESCAPE
table in the EMU lobby. Students should have from
11 a.m.to 1 p m. free any day of the week. Transpor
tation to the schools is provided.
I Bees said more buzz than sting
Stories about ferocious killer
bees making their way north from
South America in search of vic
tims in the United States are more
buzz than sting, the Agriculture
Department says.
“Don’t worry,” the department
said. “The ferocious insects fea
tured in magazines and news
papers, on television and in
movies are fiction. The real bees
behind the fiction are not that
ferocious.”
Moreover, the department’s
Animal and Plant Health Inspec
tion Service said today that the
bees “have not been seen closer
than 2,500 miles" from the south
ern U.S. border.
Even so, at their present rate of
migration the bees could arrive in
the United States within 10 to 15
years, the agency said. Or sooner
if some hitchhike by ship or airp
lane.
The super bee saga began after
wild honey bees from Africa were
introduced in Brazil for breeding
with local honey bees in an ex
perimental project. Swarms from
26 colonies escaped with their Af
rican queens, however, and ar
rived in the wilds of Brazil.
Officials said that the “Af
ricanized" bees turned out to be
“unusually aggressive” and re
quired special handling.
“When they are disturbed, they
attack in large numbers, keep up
the stinging longer and chase the
intruder farther than most domes
tic bees,’’ the report said. “Al
though the sting of Africanized
bees is no more venomous than
that of domestic bees, the attack
of an Africanized swarm is defi
nitely more frightening and painful
— but not more deadly."
Observers also found that the
hybrid bees tend to migrate grea
ter distances, perhaps 50 miles or
more when they feel the urge
“So far, absconding swarms of
Africanized bees have moved
northward as far as Venezuela
and westward into Peru and
Bolivia," the report said. "They
also have moved south into
Uruguay and Argentina."
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