The event drew more students than any previous meeting of the
neighborhood association, Rixmann said, with an estimated 40 students
stopping by throughout the afternoon.
Mayor-elect Kitty Piercy spoke at the meeting, commending Rixmann
and the rest of the neighborhood association's efforts to unify the
University and the rest of the Eugene community and encouraging them
to continue working with students.
"We need to make our University and our city even closer allies
together," she said. "Students bring talents, ideas and a future into
our community."
The West University Neighbors association had been dormant for
nearly a decade, making the neighborhood the only one in Eugene
without a community forum until Rixmann and a handful of other
neighborhood residents decided last fall that the neighborhood was in
desperate need of help.
A string of riots had strained the relationship between the
neighborhood and the University, and city officials had long been
looking for a way to solidify a healthy student presence in the
neighborhood west of campus.
West University Neighbors was created, and now meets once per month
to discuss issues pertinent to the lives of neighborhood residents,
such as riot prevention, improved communication between neighbors and
neighborhood beautification.
Larry von Klein of von Klein Property Management was at the meeting
to discuss a proposal to build a 27-unit apartment complex near 10th
and Patterson, similar to Von Klein's Hilyard House, located at 725 E
14th Ave.
Von Klein is asking for the West University Neighbors' endorsement
for Eugene's Multi Unit Property Tax Exemption program. Twenty
neighborhood residents must be present for the association to vote on
the issue, and only 12 were present for the meeting.
Rixmann said attendance at meetings has shown slow but steady
improvement, and he is positive the improvement will continue.
"If this was my QuickBook, I'd be happy because we're getting
more," Rixmann said. "Like skin, we're healthy and we're growing."
