How are we doing? Resident survey coming soon

In a few days, the City of Albany will kick off the 2014 Albany Residents Community Survey.  It's been almost five years since our last electronic survey, and we need to hear from you.

We want to know how you rate a variety of subjects:  Is Albany kept clean?  Do you feel safe in your neighborhood?  Have you volunteered your time?  How do you rate the library?

These and dozens of other questions seek to know you feel about Albany and many of the services you may use.

Watch for e-mail with a link to this important opportunity.  Surveys will be available in English and Spanish.  A few minutes of your time is all we ask, and it's your participation that can help make Albany even better.

City proposes business-friendly Development Code amendments

The City is proposing changes to the Albany Development Code that would remove challenges to development while maintaining neighborhood compatibility and be consistent with the City's Comprehensive Plan and zoning district purposes.  Proposed changes would affect home businesses as well as those in more traditional commercial areas.  The proposals would allow outright home businesses that meet measurable standards and have no noticeable off-site impacts and allow others through a conditional-use review.

The Mayor's Business Ready Task Force has been working for more than a year to review obstacles to development and redevelopment that had been identified in the Development Code over the last few years.  The task force was made up of a broad range of citizens including property owners, commercial brokers, the business community, residential neighborhoods, the City Council, and the Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission public hearing on the code updates is Monday, February 3, 2014, at 5:15 p.m.  The City Council hearing on the proposed amendments is Wednesday, March 12, 2014, at 7:15 p.m.  Both hearings will be held in the Albany City Hall Council Chambers at 333 Broadalbin Street SW.

You may view or download the proposed amendments at www.cityofalbany.net/codeupdates, in the Community Development Department at City Hall, or at either library, 2450 14th Avenue SE or 302 Ferry Street SW. For more information, call 541-917-7550 or e-mail anne.catlin@cityofalbany.net.

Library Uncorked:
Friends' fundraiser kicks off centennial year

Albany Public Library celebrates its 100th year in 2014, beginning with Library Uncorked, a wine-tasting event on Saturday, February 8, 2014, at the Carnegie Library, 302 Ferry Street SW, in Downtown Albany.

Sponsored by the Friends of the Albany Public Library, Library Uncorked will benefit the Friends' Youth Reading Scholarship Program.  Scholarships provide library access to GAPS schoolchildren who live outside the city limits.

Tickets are $25 each or $45 for two and available at the Carnegie Library and Main Library, 2450 14th Avenue SE; Browsers' Bookstore, 1425 Pacific Boulevard SE; and the Albany Downtown Association, 202 Second Avenue SW.

More centennial events will happen throughout the year, including a birthday celebration in the summer.  If you have stories or photos related to Albany library history, please contact staff at either branch or e-mail laree.dominguez@cityofalbany.net.

Albany homes may qualify for clean energy upgrades

Albany homeowners may be eligible for no-money-down financing and up to $2,000 in instant rebates on energy-saving upgrades from Clean Energy Works Oregon.  Instant rebates are applied directly to a home energy assessment and the cost of energy upgrades, eliminating out of pocket costs.

More than 50 homes in Benton County and Albany have already benefited from the program, which includes an on-site energy assessment of each home that reveals energy-draining problems such as leakage, heat transfers, hole sizes, and infiltration rates.  After an energy remodel, Clean Energy Works does an independent inspection to make sure the home upgrades perform as promised.  Upgrades can include insulation, upgraded windows, high-efficiency space- and water-heating systems, and sealing ducts.

Clean Energy Works Oregon is only available to single-family, detached homes built before 1993 and is available in Albany in collaboration with the Corvallis Environmental Center and Benton County. Homeowners can find information about the program online at http://www.cleanenergyworksoregon.org/.  Applications may be done online at no obligation, and paper application forms are available. If applying online, be sure to include the Instant Rebate code LGBEN.

More information is available at 855-870-0049 weekdays, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Committee named to study public safety facility needs

Former Oregon State Senator Frank Morse and Retired Linn County Sheriff Dave Burright have appointed a local committee to review and determine community needs related to the Albany Police Department building and Albany Fire Department Station 11:

• E. Elwin "Skeet" Arasmith, retired as head of the water/wastewater treatment operator certification at Linn-Benton Community College; operates ACR Publications.
• Geoffrey Berg, dentist; principal, Mid-Valley Dental Associates.
• Tom Cordier, retired Wah Chang engineer/executive.
• Sharon K. Edwards, retired from Qwest.
• Patrick Hagerty, dentist, chair of the Samaritan Albany General Hospital board of directors and affiliate assistant professor at Oregon Health & Sciences University.
• Mike Martin, principal, MartInvest Inc.
• Chris Norman, Coordinated Care Support Unit Manager, Oregon Health Authority.
• David Reece, engineer, principal, Reece & Associates.
• Greg Roe, executive director, United Way of Linn County.
• William G. Ryals, architect, principal, Modern Organic Architecture.
• Janet Steele, president, Albany Area Chamber of Commerce.
• Martha Wells, retired as publisher of the Albany Democrat-Herald.
• Buzz Wheeler, owner, Coastal Farm & Ranch Supply.
• Ralph Wyatt, Linn County administrative officer.

Morse and Burright are the committee's cochairs.  The group's first meeting was scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, January 28, 2014.

"An independent citizen review of Albany's public safety facilities is the right next step to assess the needs and make thoughtful recommendations back to the City Council," Morse said.  "I look forward to helping facilitate this effort."

"We're pleased that members of the community stepped up to be a part of this effort," Burright said.  "It shows what kind of a community we have in Albany and that they recognize the importance of the issue."

All committee meetings will be open to the public with agenda materials posted on the City of Albany website, www.cityofalbany.net.

In October 2013, the Albany City Council called for a committee, independent of the Council, to be created to review public safety facility needs.  A $20.3 million general obligation bond measure to replace both buildings was defeated by Albany voters in the November 5, 2013, general election.