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Ward 3 resident urges council to allow volunteer riverbank clearing project
Summary
Resident Donald Norden asked the council to place a volunteer riverbank clearing proposal on a future agenda, describing prior community work removing invasive blackberries and offering to coordinate tool caches and signage to enable volunteers to clear invasive growth along the Coast Fork River.
Donald Norden, a Ward 3 resident, asked the Council to place a volunteer riverbank-clearing project on a future agenda. Norden described prior volunteer work, including the Benny Hubbell project that removed blackberry and English ivy from publicly owned riverfront parcels, and said volunteers from Eugene participated in earlier efforts to clear brush at Riverside Park and other sites.
Norden said the project would require council permission to hang tools and place signage along the river corridor and suggested the city invite the public to take part; he said the proposal would require no city budget or public-works hours beyond permitting and that previous efforts succeeded without city funds. Norden asked the council to at least open a community discussion on the idea and put it on a future agenda for consideration.
Councilors thanked Norden for volunteering and for the proposed approach. Councilor Irvin said he supports beautifying waterways but noted there are procedural hurdles and stressed the importance of coordinating with property owners and relevant agencies. The mayor suggested staff explore the issue and incorporate it in upcoming work-session discussions about citywide cleanup.
