South Portland Neighborhood Association Board Meeting minutes:

South Portland Neighborhood Association

Wednesday, January 6th, 2009

Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR
 

Board Members: Lee Buhler, Kerry Chipman, Bill Danneman, Phil Wikelund, Ken Love, Jim Gardner, Alisa Dunlap, Norm Whitlach, Jennifer Danneluk, Jim Davis, Debbie Cronk, Connie Crooker.

Meeting was called to order at 7:02 pm by Ken Love.

Agenda

Motion to approve the agenda was made by Jim Gardner and seconded by Lee Buhler. Motion passed unanimously.

Minutes

Motion to approve the minutes as amended and sent via email was made by Lee Buhler and seconded by Kerry Chipman. Motion passed unanimously.

Presentations:

Metro—Portland to Lake Oswego transit: Robert Liberty and Karen

Kerry: Is the extension to Carolina being considered by project staff? Carolina to Nevada is approx 6 blocks and really helps connects this end of neighborhood (South Waterfront) to all the services at the end of town (zuppans, etc).

Has the City discussed the Macadam issues as relates to traffic/re-development.

Not unanimous on the Nevada vs Carolina issue. What matters from an economic development standpoint is where the stops are located. Willamette right of way vs Macadam is negligible because these two alignments are only a block or so apart.

CAC also discussed this issue. If the final alignment is Macadam it might mean more stops and more redevelopment.

CAC representatives from this neighborhood are Ken Love and Kerry Chipman, who is an alternate.

Essentially there are three options: no build, buses and streetcar. The DEIS study has started. The hope is to publish the study by May. Then, we will have a public comment period.

Crime Stats: Officer Ross

Crime declining since the holidays. Only minor problems (transient disturbance and noise issue) surrounding the Ross Island Grocery.

Ross Island Grocery application for full liquor license:

Ken Love: Explanation of the criteria used by OLCC for liquor license decisions, and said that tonight's testimony ought to address those criteria and be based on facts rather than personal opinion.

Gail Meredith—Owner of Mother Earth Daycare in neighborhood near Ross Island grocery: She thinks it is illegal in Oregon to have a daycare facility near a fully liquored licensed facility. She was not sure of the exact specifications of the law. She was fearful that she could risk my business if Ross Island grocery receives a full liquor license. She feels that people are already getting serviced by the other businesses that have full liquor licenses and that it would not be denying the neighborhood of a service. She also raised concerns about the management of the Ross Island grocery and of future potential problems like parking, noise, etc. She also stated that she had witnessed drug transactions taking place at the Ross Island Grocery.

Bill: Nothing in the police report for the last 12 months. The crime map of Portland print out also shows nothing. There are no instances of report drug trafficking in any of the police reports nor in the SWNI crime prevention list.

Gail Meredith: There will be a public meeting tomorrow night at the Ross Island grocery at 6:30 pm. There will be a representative from the OLCC as well as Stephanie from the SWNI crime prevention office on hand to discuss citizen input.

Chris Dorn: Chris Dorn spoke in opposition to the liquor license application. He said the neighborhood had come a long way in recent years and a bar was a step in the wrong direction. He felt this would attract undesirable types of people into the neighborhood and cause excessive noise, parking problems, attract loiterers and criminal activity. He felt these factors would decrease the property values of neighbors, and that such problems could become much worse if subsequent owners turned the business into a bar/cocktail lounge. Mr. Dorn agreed with the objections raised by the owner of the nearby child care center, and said several other neighbors were opposed to hard liquor at that location. He said that the OLCC licensing criteria are not binding on the neighborhood association and that our concern should be the overall livability of the neighborhood. He urged the Board not to take a position on the issue until after the meeting the following evening about a “good neighbor” agreement.

Frank Connell—Neighborhood Resident: The Connell’s live near the Ross Island grocery. The Connell’s are happy to have Ross Island grocery in the neighborhood. However, they are concerned about the full liquor license. He knows that Jennifer’s application says she will only be open until 8pm during the weekdays however; the actual license will not have time restrictions. He requested that the NA Board oppose Jennifer’s application for a full liquor license and if the Board will not oppose the application, he wanted the Board to take a position or action on a “good neighbor agreement.” He did not speak about the policy complaints of drugs/crimes but stated that his feeling that bars in neighborhoods open up a serious potential for criminal activity. He was also concerned about the potential for a change in ownership and how a new owner may not be as respectful of the neighbors as Jennifer.

Ken: If ownership changes hands, then the process starts over. A new owner would have to reapply through the OLCC for a liquor license.

Explanation of a “good neighborhood agreement.” A good neighbor agreement is when a business owner and a neighborhood (usually the neighborhood association) come to an agreement on restrictions to the businesses hours of operation, service conduct, etc.

Bill: The OLCC reevaluates all licenses every June and while the good neighbor agreement may not be legally enforceable the OLCC will take into consideration any breaches of the agreement during the renewal process.

Jennifer—Owner Ross Island Grocery and SPNA Board Member—Jennifer stated that she is more than happy to sign a good neighborhood agreement. She welcomed discussion over the terms fo the agreement and said she would be happy to have Stephanie from the SW crime prevention office and the OLCC be included in the discussion of the terms.

Jim D: A good neighbor agreement is between the licensee and the neighbors. It is more than a piece of paper, the OLCC can review any complaints against the good neighbor agreement and will take those into consideration during the renewal process.

Connie: Explained how a good neighbor agreement was already at work in the neighbor. She lives near 7-eleven and after witnessing transients go into the 7-eleven to purchase alcohol and then finding empty bottles near the property she and others in the area approached 7-eleven. The neighbors and 7-eleven worked settle the terms of the good neighbor agreement, both parties signed the agreement and since that time there have not been any problems with that business. This is an example where a good neighbor agreement has made a difference in the neighborhood. She Has made a difference in the neighborhood. Not speaking to the enforcement if they were to violate the agreement. 1) Worth looking into the childcare facility and if it will be affected by the liquor license acquisition. 2) Number of people that have opposed the liquor license. I would hope that Jennifer would abstain from the vote due to conflict of interest. We need to remain unbiased.

Bob—Neighborhood Resident: He favors an expansion of the Ross Island into a restaurant. Having neighborhood restaurants is part of what vitalizes a neighborhood and attracts new residents. It’s a local business owned by a local resident. I fully support Jennifer in her application for a full liquor license.

Jim G: I want to make sure that both sides, opposing and supporting arguments are given equal time to discuss their point. So far, I feel that the opposition has not been respected by the Board or audience members. I also want us to be careful in the words we use. The Ross Island grocery is not a bar--this is a loaded word. If a good neighborhood agreement is signed and has time restrictions, etc then it will be clear that it is not a bar. Another example, in addition to the example of the 7-eleven is the Lair Hill market. The Lair Hill market signed a good neighborhood agreement which stipulated business hours, what types of events they would hold, etc. There have been no problems since that agreement was signed. A good neighbor agreement sets clear expectations and puts the owners credibility on the line.

Female Neighborhood Resident: I want to state that the same potential problems folks have stated can be just as easily had with just beer and wine. The management is what determines if hard alcohol will change any outcomes. I support Jennifer. I think she has brought a valuable service to this neighborhood and I trust her management style.

Neighborhood resistant—Bob: I would like the Board to endorse Jennifer’s application to the OLCC.

Neighborhood resistant—Frank: I would like the Board to make a decision on this application as well. There are three options 1) Endorse 2) Abstain 3) Oppose. I hope the Board opposes this application.

Lee: I think it’s going to be a positive thing for the neighborhood. There haven’t been any reported crimes near the establishment. I think Jennifer is more than willing to sign a good neighbor agreement and accommodate the will of the surrounding neighbors.

Gail Meredith: I urge the Board to hold off on voting until after the fact finding meeting is tomorrow.

Phil: I would like to suggest that the good neighbor agreement be agreed upon before the Board takes a position.

Kerry: Wouldn’t this be insulting to make Jennifer sign something before there have been any problems.

Jim G: The Board could send OLCC a letter stating that our vote is contingent on Jennifer signing a good neighbor agreement if there is need for one. Then, if Jennifer doesn’t sign and there are reported problems we could send the OLCC a different letter.

Jennifer: I am speaking as the owner of the Ross Island grocery. I have been on the premises with a license for beer and wine for 7 years. My hours of operation have been and will continue to be 7 am – 8 pm during the week. There haven’t been any reported problems and I don’t see that changing if I start serving margaritas. I have not currently signed any good neighbor agreement. I am not opposed to signing such an agreement but I think it is a little premature for me to sign one before my license has been approved.

Jim Gardner made a motion that the Board communicate to the OLCC that the Board supports the application for a full liquor license at the Ross Island grocery and it is our understanding that the applicant will enter into a good neighbor agreement if one is needed in the future.

Support: Lee Buhler, Jim Gardner, Kerry Chipman, Phil Wikelund, Ken Love, Bill Danneman, Jim Davis, Debbie Cronk.

Oppose: None.

Abstain: Connie Crooker, Norm Whitlach, Jennifer Danneluk, Alisa Dunlap.

SWNI schools: Jim Gardner

No action was taken on Measures 66 and 67. There was a presentation on what type of impact the measures will have on schools.

SWNI Transportation: Jim Gardner

Barbur blvd high capacity transit (bus, streetcar, lightrail) was discussed. ODOT is trying to complete their study on the corridor before TriMet start planning projects in the area. Tigard is pushing for light rail to ease their traffic congestion.

Point of Order: Motion was made by Bill Danneman to extend the time for the meeting by 20 minutes. Lee Buhler seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

SWNI Board: Jim Gardner

Did not attend, Ken Love attended. Ken reported that there was nothing urgent said at the meeting.

Land Use: Jim Davis

PDC is conducting an inventory of houses in the far north end of the neighborhood south of I-5 for potential redevelopment. PSU is expanding and building as much as they can on 4^th Avenue, so far they have not crossed into our neighborhood but I will be following their expansion.

South Waterfront: Debbie Cronk

Zidell is cleaning up their waterfront area and aren’t sure exactly what they want to do with their space.

Communications: Lee Buhler

We received our grant. We were awarded $1500.00. We have put off the grand opening for the new Ross Island grocery location for obvious reasons.

There being no further business. The meeting adjourned 9:10 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Alisa Dunlap

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South Portland Neighborhood Association
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR
 
Meeting called to order by Ken Love at 7:05pm.
Board Members Present: Jim Gardner, Alisa Dunlap, Kerry Chipman, Ken Love, Jim Davis, Bill Danneman, Phil Wikelund, Jennifer Danneluk, Elizabeth Galbreath, Lee Buhler, Debbie Cronk.
Agenda
Motion to approve the agenda was made my Jim Gardner, seconded by Jim Davis.  Motion passed unanimously.
Minutes
Motion to approve the minutes as amended and distributed via email was made by Jim Garner.  Kerry Chipman seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.
Treasury Report
$201.18 in saving. $1398.37 in checking.
Presentations
Update on Willamette Park parking program: Terry Davis, Don McTaggert and Brian Aptcar
Change in parking fees at Willamette Park.  July the new parking changes were implemented.  We wanted to come back and give a recap of the program now that the summer season is over.  Outreach for the changes—we sent post cards to groups that had rented the park.  We also posted FAQ sheets and warning cards under the windshield wipers before the new fees were implemented.  The meters cost about $30k, the installation was a one-time $16k.  From July 6th to the present we have made about $40k in profit.  We will continue collecting money through the winter season which was not the case before.
Questions—
Q.  How does that compare to years past? Are people paying more? 
A. Don’t know because we have not had the system for a whole year.  Now that the seasons have changed we can catalogue how much we will make in the winter season.  Before this season was free.
Q. Are other parks charging for city parks?
A.  People are waiting for the entire year cycle to see how our program goes to use us as a model.
Q.  Was there a change in the number of park users? 
A. We did not have a reduction in the number of events and have had no complaints per se about the charges.
A.  What is the cost of enforcement?
A.  City of Portland transportation gets the revenue from citations and half goes to the county.  There might be an annual cost for upkeep/maintenance but it’s not a lot.
Q.  How many citations have been issued?  Is it consistent with other areas?
A. Don’t know but can do some diligence and find out.
Q.  Major problems?
A.  There were some issues with the programming of the machines but this has been fixed.
Items that the neighborhood would like to see the money are spent on within Willamette Park:
There are large pools of water on the trail, could this be maintained?  This is a design issue however; this is something that can be considered with the parking money.
The rose bushes in the summer time often take over the trail, could these be trimmed back?  Willamette Park is a hybrid park, it is the shared responsibility of city parks and natural resources.
Ride Connection (Transportation resources for older adults and people with disabilities): James Uwetta
Private non-profit organization that offers transportation services for the elderly and low income.  Also, outreach to rural Washington County and bring them into the Trimet. We have had over 370k rides and approximately 10k riders.  We have 100 vehicles all ADA accessible.  We have an advocacy group in Salem to lobby for funding.  We also have a program to teach people how to use public transportation. Our office hours are limited; we work M-f 8-5pm and ask people to call 3-4 days in advance.  We feel that transportation is a basic need and we’re trying to fill a void.  We have 600 drivers, 2/3 are volunteer drivers.  Our biggest challenge is lack of money.
Gibbs Pedestrian Bridge Update: Jodi Yates, Portland Bureau of Transportation
Unfortunately, all bids were over budget and therefore we rejected all bids.  We are going back to design.  The Mayor is still supportive of building this bridge.  Our federal funding is still available.  The bids came in over budget mostly due to under assessing what the traffic control would cost.  Federal funding is still available.  The total earmarked amount is $11M we actually received $9.9M. So far, we have spent $2M for the design for the bridge but it will not cost $2M for the next design.  Much of the work that was done for the first design can be transferred to the next design.
What is the most important thing for the neighborhood?  Is getting across the freeway the most important thing? Do you want it now? What is the highest priority?  The sooner the better and getting over the freeway are the two priorities.  We don’t want to lose the federal funds and therefore will compromise on bridge design.
A motion was made by Bill Danneman that the top priority of the South Portland Neighborhood Association is that we get a bridge, as soon as possible in whatever design that is most affordable. Seconded by Jim Davis.  Motions passed unanimously.
Discussion on extending SPNA boundaries to include Powers Marine Parks: Ken Love
Extending the southern boundary to powers marine park.  Is there interest?  A concern was brought up that the city uses a calculation to determine park squares to people.  Right now we are considered park deficient if we changed our boundaries this may take us out of this category.  If we add this area, we may no longer be park deficient and therefore we may no longer get other parks.
Lee Buhler made a motion for Ken to continue to pursue the issue with ONI, SWNI.  Kerry seconded the motion.  Motion passed unanimously.
Standing Reports
Transportation: Bill Danneman
CAC meeting is Jan 6th 3:30pm streetcar Gibbs pedestrian bridge.  Iowa street I5 overpass discussing will take place at the Portland French school on Dec 9th 4:30-7:30pm. 
Kerry Chipman reported that the LoPac meetings are every third Monday of the month, except for December when it’s the second Monday at 2:00 pm.  They are doing trolley rides this year.  Call Kerry for specifics about the meeting on 12/14.  Last month, there was an elimination of the full Macadam option.  This was a result of a steering committee vote that was not well publicized.  Does the neighborhood want to make another motion in support for the full macadam option and have someone make a presentation at the next meeting.
Kerry Chipman made a motion that a representative of SPNA appear before the CAC to reiterate our support for the full Macadam option. Jim Davis seconded. 
Discussion—Jim Gardner, doesn’t support the motion because the issue is dead the steering committee has already voted. 
Kerry Chipman stated that the idea is to keep the communication open about the possibility of tweaking the option, stretching the option a few blocks even if it’s not the full Macadam piece.
Kerry Chipman restated the motion.  A representative of SPNA shall appear before the CAC to reiterate our support for the full Macadam option. 
Motion passed with one opposing vote from Jim Gardner.
SWNI Board: Jim Gardner
Motion was tabled about the James Chassey event.
Schools: Jim Gardner 
Presentation on ballot measures 66 and 67 which are the two tax measures.  The taxes will go toward state funding of schools.  The schools committee tabled a motion to support or oppose the measures but did approve a motion that encouraged citizens to educate themselves on the possible impacts of voting for or against the measures.
Land Use: Jim Davis
There will not be a parking lot built across the street from the new gym where the old YMCA used to be.
Point of order: Motion was made by Elizabeth Galbreath to extend the meeting for 5 minutes.  Seconded by Lee Buhler.  Motion passed unanimously.
South Waterfront: Lew Pusch/Debbie Cronk
The City is keeping the new park fenced until they finish all the work.  They are planning an unveiling party in the sprint.  There is a Christmas Party on Dec 10th at 5:00 pm where you’ll get to tour the penthouses.  
South Portland Business Association will be having a holiday party on Dec. 16th at 7:00 pm in the Atwater penthouse.
Communications: Lee Buhler
Have not hear about our 2010 grant yet.  Communications meeting two weeks from tonight, on the agenda will be how to spend the rest of our 2009 money.
There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 9:05 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Alisa Dunlap

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South Portland Neighborhood Association
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR



Meeting called to order by Ken Love at 7:02pm.
Board Members Present: Lee Buhler, Jim Davis, Jennifer Danneluk, Jim Gardner, Kerry Chipman, Ken Love, Phil Wikelund, Bill Danneman, Alisa Dunlap, Elizabeth Galbreath.
Presentations:
Community Response Officer: Mitch Orellana
Officer Orellana handles chronic issues like graffiti or car break-ins.  Calls from this neighborhood in the last few months were almost all car prowls.  Officer Orellana’s response time is usually a few days. 
A motion to approve the agenda was made by Jim Davis and seconded by Bill Danneman.  Motion passed unanimously.
Motion was made by Jim Davis to approve the October minutes, seconded by Jim Gardner.  Motion passed unanimously.
Treasury Report
$201.18-savings
$1098.37—checking
Urban Renewal District update: Peter Englander
We do support an urban renewal district in this part of the neighborhood but the proposal needs stronger language, it is too general.
Jim Gardner made a motion that the SPNA supports a URA in the northern part of south Portland as shown on the attached map, if the following provisions are made part of the URA.  (Map on page 4-the blue area.)
    -TIF funds generated or expected to be generated from that area are used for projects in that area. 
    -Two priorities, projects which implement South Portland Circulation Study and support     affordable housing (30-60% of median income in the area).
Bill Danneman, seconds the motion.
Discussion: TIF node is different than the URA boundary.  However, this was the recommendation not the area we are actually talking about.  This was simply a quick draw of areas.
What about adding a “greening” aspect to building in URA?  Any project that has low threshold of investment from PDC has to meet a minimum on the LEED spectrum.  All minimum standards have been met, most of the time it’s LEED silver.
Affordable housing is important to us.  What about adding to the motion that the building zoning prohibits high rise apartment buildings?
Amended motion made by Jim Gardner:
South Portland Neighborhood Association supports a URA in the north part of the neighborhood as shown on attached map, if the following provisions are made part of the agreement in creating the URA:
1)TIF funds generated or expected from this part of the URA are allocated to projects within the South Portland area indicated on the map.
2)First priority for such projects shall be:
a.Implementation of the recommendations of the South Portland circulation study.
b.Creation of family housing affordable to those with 30-60% of the local median family income.
c.Comprehensive plan zoning in the South Portland portion of this new URA should not be changed to allow greater building heights or floor area ratio’s than currently allowed.
Seconded by Bill Danneman, motion passed unanimously.
Jim Gardner: Transportation, Board, Schools
Board—BES presentation.  SWNI budget is doing well.
Transportation—city wide bike master plan.  SWNI activity supports the plan.
Schools—Ballot measures, 66 and 67, tax measures were discussed.  The School committee did not take a position.  If the measures are repealed there would be a significant impact on the budget.
Willamette Watershed Update: Jen Seamans, BES
Project types: Stormwater; Re-vegetations; Aquatic and Terrestrial enhancement.  Most projects are a collaboration of public and private investment.
What to do with the grant money: Lee Buhler
We have $300-400 left in the grant account and it must be used by Dec 31st.  A couple of ideas: buy a banner to hang at the picnic or hold a holiday gathering at Ross Island grocery. 
Park Opening:
The park opening will be on Nov 19th from 6:00 – 8:00 pm.
New Business—Consider holding the SPNA meetings at different locations every other month.  Idea was tabled until December.
Point of Order: Extension of the meeting for 15 minutes.
Land Use: Jim Davis
Nothing to report.
Park and Greenway: Ken Love
The park opening will be great, everyone should attend.
Communication:  Lee Buhler
SPNA turned in our 2010 grant on Monday.  I’ve already started thinking about the picnic and summer concerts.  I’ll be talking to the NPC on Monday about partnering.
Transportation: Bill Danneman
Gibbs Street pedestrian bridge is in limbo as all the bids came in above budget.  The project is 68% over budget.  They went back to the drawing board and are even looking at different bridge types. Kerry Chipman reported that the streetcar to Lake Oswego project is meeting every 3rd Monday.  The meetings will alternate between Lake Oswego, City Hall and somewhere in South Portland.  The next meeting is on November 16th from 5:00 – 7:00 pm.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:14 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Alisa Dunlap


   

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South Portland Neighborhood Association
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR
Draft
Attendance:
Board members: Debbie Cronk, Lee Buhler, Norm Whitlatch, Bill Danneman, Kerry Chipman, Jim Davis, Ken Love, Jim Gardner, Jim Davis
Others: Jerry Rundorff, Dale Donna, Peggy Pusch ,Roger Gertenrich, Ross Dority Lew, Elizabeth, Michelle Walsh, Clem Ogilby, Paul Klien
Ken 7:03
Chair Ken Love called the meeting to order at: 7:03pm
Agenda: Bill made a motion to accept the agenda. Kerry seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Minutes: Jim Gardner made a motion to accept the September minutes. Lew seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.
Treasurer's report: Elizabeth reported that there is $1098.38 in one account ant $201.18 in the other.
Old Children’s Museum building: Dale Bernards gave a presentation about the building that previously housed the Children's Museum. Dale's company is interested in rehabing the structure. However, they have not decided what the best use of the building would be and they are asking for SPNA ideas and input. The building needs $1 to $1.5 million of improvements to meet current seismic code. The city does not have the funding to do that work.  Dale said the bigest obsticale is the lact of addiquate parking. He would like to find a usage that is not heavily dependent on parked cars. Bill also emphasized the parking problems in the area. Bill said most houses int that area do not have off-street parking as it is. Dale said a school is one possibility that would not have high parking demands.  Jim G. said the NA had previously suggested a public use and also talked about the parking problems. Dale asked if a office use that uses parking during the day would work as many residents would be gone.  Bill and Jim G. said daytime is the worst parking problem.  Dale said there may be a tradeoff adding some parking problems vs letting the building rot or tear it down.  Jim D. said a school seems to make sense but he hoped it would not have high tuition.  

Police report: Officer Ross Dorrety said there was one robbery at 7-Eleven which was reall a shoplifting gone bad. There were also three burglaries and 9 thefts from auto. Roger said he heard a woman was accosted in the OHSU parking lot.  Ross had not heard about it.
Caruther's Park: Roger talked about the naming of Caruther’s park and his suggestion of additional wording on the park name's plaque.  Roger and his wife did research on Elizabeth Caruthers and found some new information.  There was a court fight that went all the way to the US Supreme Court as to whether an un-married woman could legally own land in Oregon.  The Supreme Court agreed that Elizabeth could own the land. Roger also said Elizabeth's son co-sponsored the first water system in Portland and gave money for a school. He would like to see a sign describing this. Bill asked what time frame and Roger said there was not a hurry. Roger handed out his suggestion for wording.   Motion: Bill Danneman: SPNA supports the general concept for the plaque with minor word tweeking if needed. The motion was seconded by Lee. Lew asked to ammend the motion to add the contribution by Elizebeth's son, Finice. Bill accepted the amendment. The motion passed as follows:
Aye: Debbie Cronk, Lee Buhler, Norm Whitlatch, Bill Danneman, Kerry Chipman, Jim Davis, Ken Love, Jim Gardner
Opposed Jim Davis
Southwest Charter school: Jerry Rundorff from Southwest Charter school talked about the school and gave an update.  This is their third year and this year they have 120 students.  They do not charge tuition. They have out-grown their space. They have been looking for seveal years for adequate space and have not luck. They have found space on Bancroft that is possible. The City has been pressing them on seismic problems that they say need to be address. However, the school hired consultants who have said the building is safe. It is very upsetting as they are in such dire need. Bill asked about the greenway and Jerry said their occupancy would not trigger improvements. Jerry said Commissioner Leonard has agreed to talk to them but they have not heard back.  Their website is www.southwestcharter.org
Bill introduced the following motion: SPNA supports efforts of SW charter in relocating to former Group McKenzie building. Kerry seconded the motion and the motion passsed unanimously.
Un-used grant money. Ken said we had about $400 left over from our summer grant and it needs to be spend by the end of the year.  He asked people to think of things we could spend it on that are within the purposes of our grant.  The purchases would have to be approved by Southwest Neigbhors, Inc.
Morris Marks House: Clem Ogilby and architect Paul Klein talked about the Morris Marks house and the possibility of moving it to the South Portland neighborhood. They propose moving it to the triangle at Broadway and 6th. He said this is one of the last Italianate designs left in Portland.  There were hundreds of buildings of this design in Portland around the turn of the century. They displayed drawings of the building and proposed site. Clem said this was originally planned as a park by the Olmsted brothers in a 1903 report as the “Little Reservoir Park”. Clem has a prospective client to fund the moving and rehabilitation of the house. He could not give the name at this point but he said it was a non-profit organization. Clem's group has been talking to the city and getting good feedback.  They were hoping to take a letter of support from SPNA to their clients and the city.  They said they have an uphill battle and want our support. Lee said he strongly supported the idea. Jim G. asked if there would be changes to the exterior and if there would be zoning changes.  Paul said they do not want to change the zoning but ask for a conditional use instead. Clem said they did not want to make any changes to the exterior. Roger said that he thinks it is a good idea and  Jim D. asked about vacating the street and Paul said the portion they want is not in the current vehicle lanes.  Motion Bill Danneman: SPNA supports general principle that this would be a fitting site for the Morris Marks House.  Kerry seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.
Urban Renewal Districts: Jim Gardner talked about the possible addition to Urban Renewal Districts.  There are several downtown but they are expiring. They are looking at new areas.  One of which is at PSU and they are considering expanding it into South Portland. He handed out a paper that described the area.  Jim said there are pros and cons.  You get more development but pay for it in higher taxes and development is not assured. Jim said it was important that we make sure that money raised from additional taxes in our neighborhood be used in our neighborhood. Jim suggested low income housing or fixing the Ross Island bridge ramps as possible developments.  Jim said we need to work with PSU on this as this district would also include them and they are looking to expand over I-405.  Therefore, this issue and the PSU expansion are closely related. Jim D. said low-income housing is a good idea and should not be confused with housing projects.
Committee Reports
Transportation: Bill D. said he was at the streetcar meeting and they have a new chair. They talked about the Lake Oswego to Portland streetcar but most of the meeting was about the SE streetcar loop.  They have selected a committee for Lake Oswego to Portland streetcar and Ken is the SPNA representative.  The first meeting will be on Oct 22 and the process is on a fast track. Generally residents in Lake Oswego and South Portland like the idea but resdiedents in Dunthorp do not. They may make it go to just the Sellwood bridge.  Bill said the Oregon Department of Transportation has asked for a noise variance for construction of the I-5 Iowa structure and the project will last 2-3 years. There will be an open house for the Sellwood bridge  and they have been tweeking project. They have made improvements to the west end. It will add $19 per year for vehicle registration in Multnomah county.  Bill sais there is a new bicycle plan for the city and they are accepting comment until November 8.
Land-use: Jim D. said land-use activity may pick up as he is seeing more pre-app meetings. He said that means there will be more going on in the spring. But there are currently no land use issues. Jim said he talked to the owner's of the property at Hooker and Barbur and they have agreed to let the old pear tree stay.  He asked for volunteers to work on it.
SWNI Transportation Committee: Bill attended the last meeting and they discussed the Regonal Transportation Plan from Metro. The Barbur corridor will be the major part of the plan in our neighborhood.
South Waterfront: Lew said on Oct 21 a representative from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality will discuss pollution on Willamette. On the 28th a John Ross Plaza group will  talk about sustainable food in the region.
Roger said the planning and sustainability committee at the city had a hearing and all buildings along greenway ground floor must be retail. Roger's group pressured the committee and they agreed to make it allowed but not mandatory for the Atwater and Meriwether buildings.
Parks: Ken said the greenway is taking way too long but Caruthers Park is coming along well. Debbie said they will have a Friends of Caruthers Park soon.
Communications:  Lee said the committee is working hard on the grant that is due November 2nd.
Ken adjourned the meeting at 8:55

Respectfully Submitted,

Lee Buhler

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South Portland Neighborhood Association
Wednesday, September 2rd, 2009
Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR

Meeting called to order by Ken Love at 7:16pm.
Board Members Present: Lee Buhler, Jim Davis, Jennifer Daneluk, Jim Gardner, Ken Love, Lew Pusch, Norm Whitlatch, Phil Wikelund, Debbie Cronk, Bill Danneman, Alisa Dunlap.
Officer Ross Crime Report
No burglaries for the past two months.  The homicide in the condo complex behind Zuppans was a rare event.  It’s a nice area that has never caused problems in the past.  It is suspected to be a drug related event.
Agenda
Addition to the agenda is that Peter Englander from PDC will be here to discuss urban renewal.
Motion was made by Lee Buhler to accept the agenda as amended, Jim Gardner seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.
Minutes
Motion to approve the July minutes was made by Lew Pusch, seconded by Jim Gardner.  Motion passed unanimously.
Presentations
Art Pierce—PBOT 
Soliciting support for the TIGER grant currently being submitted.  The total project comes to $76M, the federal grant request is $44M.  The rest of the money will come from a local match, mostly from an abandoned project (the flyover ramp project) but also from property owners and PDC.
Motion was made by Bill Danneman to approve the letter of support for the TIGER grant, Jim Gardner seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.
Peter Englander—PDC Urban Renewal district
Two long time urban renewals which have been around since the 1970’s are coming to an end.  In the next 3-4 years, the money generated by these areas will be used.  PDC is looking to start new urban renewal areas in the central district.  The areas in question are the Conway to Goose Hollow district and south of 405.
After financial analysis Mayor Adams has put together a group of 25 folks, business leaders, social service representatives, property owners, neighborhood activists and five elected officials to serve on a committee to examine the areas up for consideration of urban renewal.  This group has been meeting since May and is now starting to consider specific areas.  This group is considering a list of questions on urban renewal including: the ROI on urban renewal districts?, what would happen without urban renewal?, what happens with it?, how to keep the money generated within a certain area?, etc.
The areas being considered this fall are: NW-Conway, Goose Hollow, North of Market and South of Market.
South of Market, which includes this neighborhood is being considered first at a meeting on September 16th.  PDC realizes they did not communicate well with this department and would like to begin to engage this neighborhood group as much as possible.  The meeting on the 16th is an opportunity not the only opportunity to voice concerns.
SPNA concerns:
-Not given adequate time to prepare for a meeting on September 16th, would like another opportunity.
-What safe guards are put in place to avoid the problem of money being generated in area X and being spent in area Y?
-Will this process consider some of the transportation issues that have been approve in the South Portland Circulation Study?
-Seems that what this area needs is a new transportation strategy not re-development.
Peter Englander response:
What is the best way to engage this group in the process?  How would you like to submit your feedback? Would you like to participate in the already scheduled public meetings?  Would you want to submit a formal letter?  PDC will do whatever we need to do to engage this group since PDC inadvertently left you out of the process up to this point. 

SWNI Transportation representative: Jim Gardner said  that Marriane Fitzgerald, chair of the SWNI Transportation Committee has asked that SPNA formally appoint a representative to the SWNI Transportation Committee.  Bill said the transportation committee would like to nominate Jim G. as SWNI transportation representative and Bill as alternate.  Lew made a motion to appoint Jim Gardner as our SWNI representative and Bill Danemann as alternate. Lee B seconded the motion. The motion passed Unanimously

Ken said there would be a open house tomorrow night from 5-7pm on South Waterfront zoning code.  Bill said there were a couple of things he is concerned about.  The proposed code changes want to encourage ground floor retail. Bill did not think excessive retail along the greenway was a good idea.   He was also concerned about the proposal changing terminology from “ownership” to “site”. Bill worried that this change may not trigger greenway funding which would be help developers but be negative to the public.  He suggested everyone go to the meeting.   Ken said they are also changing the rules to allow a hotel.
Ken said there was a problem at our last picnic.  The Parks Department double booked the picnic area and moved us to the soccer field. Sylvia used $537 of her own money to rent tables for the picnic.  Ken said he was working to negotiate the payment of this sum and will probably be back to the board requesting money to reimburse Sylvia.
Un-muffled brakes: Lee talked about the problem of excessive noise in some parts of our neighborhood due to the use of un-muffled engine brake use on I-5.  There were forty-three signatures collected on a petition to ask ODOT to install signs prohibiting the use of un-muffled brakes on I-5.  Bill Danneman introduced a motion to formally endorse the effort to install signs prohibiting un-muffled brake use.  The motion was seconded by Jennifer.  The motion passed unanimously
Committee Reports:
Land use: Jim Davis talked about the original negotiations for the greenway in South Waterfront. The developers agreed to exchange higher building heights for a wider greenway. Most of the tall buildings were to be on Moody and were to be narrow to preserve views. Jim said he did not thing it was right for developers to try to get away from the original agreement to save a few dollars. He said the greenway is pivotal for development  He also said that, based on his experience, it would be hard for retail to be successful on the greenway. Jim then talked about the proposed parking lot across from the old YMCA.  The property has a sign on it saying it will be future parking for the fitness center across the street. That property contains a pear tree planted in1860 and he wants to make sure this tree is preserved. Jim G asked if land use has received any plans for parking lot. Jim D said he has not. Jim G. said since it is zoned CM and would require a zone change. Bill said the sign is probably a marketing tool.  Bill introduced a motion that SPNA send a letter to the owner and occupant of that property asking them to preserve that tree.  Ken asked Bill to amend the motion to allow him to first investigate the heritage tree process and proceed with that if it was a better way to protect the tree.  Bill agreed.  Lee Buhler seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

Schools: Jim Gardner said the SWNI schools committee wants a presence at the back to school night events. The chair, Will Fuller and other committee members will be at as many as possible. They are also looking into strategies to attract students to high schools.  Portland Public Schools may change their policy of complete open transfer of schools and the committee wants to know what the impact will be. The goal is to equalize quality of schools. 
SWNI Transportation Committee: They will finalize the long term transportation priorities for SW at the September 22nd meeting. Bill will attend for Jim G. who will be out of town.
Bill made a motion extend meeting by 20 minutes.  The motion passed unanimously.
SWNI Board: Jim G. said the SWNI board may ask for another swimming pool in SW.  It will probably be an indoor pool.
Transportation: Bill said Metro is picking members for the next LOPAC advisory committee.  They will have the selection complete by September 23rd.  He said we need to be concerned because some private parties are suggesting zone changes on Macadam that may lead to increased building heights.  It is on fast track want to finish by January. Bill said the pedestrian bridge contractor is to be selected by mid November.
Metro has moved high capacity transit on Barbur to tier 1 priority. Bill suggested we consider the possibility of the line going on Naito.  The National College of Natural Medicine wants a stop at their school and Natio is wide enough to accommodate it.  Jim G. said they are just now looking at that corridor and it might not be light rail.  Bill said the system will probably have fewer stops close in.  Ken said he would do his best to make sure that either he or Bill would be on the LOPAC committee.
South Waterfront: Lew talked about the naming of park.  Many in SouthWaterfront did not like the process.  He pointed out the the light rail bridge may be named Carruthers as well.  Jim D. suggested naming park for Linus Pauling. Ken said it has been named and it would be very hard to change that.
Communications:  Lee Buhler said they discussed the summer events at the last communications meeting. They may send out just a postcard next year.  They also want to make the picnic more intimate than this year as was the case in past years.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:15pm
Respectfully Submitted
Alisa Dunlap & Lee Buhler

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Portland Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR

Attendance:

Board: Ken Love, Jennifer Daneluk, Bill Danneman, Lee Buhler, Norm Whitlatch, Lew Pusch, Jim Davis, Elizabeth Galbraith, Debbie Cronk, Jim Gardner, Phil Wikelund

Others: Thom Hartmann, Louise Hartmann, Seth Schmedemann, Lee Perlman, Don Baack, Vern Rifer

President Ken Love called the meeting to order at 7:03

Agenda: Lee Buhler made a motion to accept the agenda, Lew Pusch seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Minutes: Elizabeth Galbraith corrected the amount reported in the treasury for the June  minutes to $1586. She made a motion to accept the minutes with the correction. Jennifer Daneluk seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Don Baack, a Hillsdale resident and chair of SW trails talked about the I-5 Iowa overpass construction and the impact on the trail below the overpass.  It is a major trail and the trail may be closed for two to three years.  Don would like us to ask for mitigation from ODOT for the trail closure. This trail is part of the forty mile loop trail that circles Portland. In early eighties PDOT and Parks were in same organization and they mapped out the loop including this route. The trail was built in the eighties and is very well used. Don displayed a map showing the route.  He believes it is the best long distance walk in SW if not the city except for one section: the Boones Ferry crossing. Don proposed we ask for improvement for this section as mitigation for the closing.  He estimated the cost to be $610,000. Jim Gardner asked for clarification on whether ODOT was required to provide mitigation for the disruption. Don said although mitigation may not be required, we should demand it.  Lee Buhler asked if we could add a trail at the end of Slavin road as part of the mitigation. He said it would more directly help the people who are impacted by the construction and provide a safer route for students in South Portland.

Except there is one piece that is not good at the Boone Ferry crossing. Don proposes using the mitigation for the crossing at Boones Ferry. Phil asked for clarification on money.  Jim G. said this was construction under the bridge. Jim G. asked about factual information on mitigation. Don said we will have to demand it from ODOT.
Jim Gardner made the following motion:

That the South Portland Neighborhood Association request that ODOT mitigate for the noise, traffic, dirt and other impacts of the Iowa structure replacement on the vicinity of the project by grading and improving a trail connection between the end of Slavin Road and Barbur Blvd.; and also mitigate for the two-three year closure of SW trail #3 by providing $619,000 for the incremental additional cost of constructing a bridge under Boones Ferry Road at Tryon Creek. Lee Buhler seconded the motion.

The motion passed as follows:
Aye: Ken Love, Jennifer Daneluk, Bill Danneman, Lee Buhler, Norm Whitlatch, Lew Pusch, Elizabeth Galbraith, Debbie Cronk, Jim Gardner, Phil Wikelund
Abstain: Jim Davis

Don expressed his thanks and suggested we advocate for more bike amenities in South Portland.  He talked about the possibility of high speed transit on Barbur and suggested bike improvements as a part of that construction.

Vern Rifer talked about the Lake Oswego to Portland streetcar project and street alignment. He had previously sent out a suggested petition which Ken had emailed to board members.  Vern displayed maps of the street car alignments.  He said several people have been working on this project for some time.  The line currently goes to the end of South Waterfront and the next expansion is being considered for development. Each neighborhood is trying to resolve the exact route. The residents of Dunthorpe feel they would not benefit and do not like it at all.  Most people a the north end (Johns Landing) like the project. The environmental impact statement has started.  The current, planned alignment comes up by the Avalon Hotel to Landing Drive and then down to Boundary and then up to Macadam.  At that point the route has not been finalized. There are four alternatives two of which people seem to like and two which people do not. He is proposing eliminating any Willamette alignment through neighborhoods as it would be disruptive and also eliminate the Macadam alignment south of Carolina, due to the cost. Ken said he will talk to the South Portland Business Association to get their feedback.  Vern said it looks like seven condo associations will support the letter. Jim G. asked if the Willamette alignment would limit the number of stations and Vern said it would. Jim G. said this goes back many years and Metro bought land many years ago specifically for this purpose.  Jim said putting the streetcar on Macadam would slow traffic on Macadam and Macadam is at full capacity at this time. It will make it much more congested and therefore there may be pressure to widen Macadam. Vern said Metro and ODOT have done studies and it would only add two to three minutes by having on Macadam and all of it would be at the Boundary intersection.  Jim pointed out that a streetcar stops and that has to slow things down. Jim suggested seeing the analysis.  Vern said there will be much opposition from homeowners if there is not a Macadam alignment and it probably will never be built.  Elizabeth asked if line 35 would be eliminated and Vern said it would not in fact it may be supplemented. Ken turned chairmanship of the meeting over to Vice President Jim Davis so he could comment.
Ken Love made the following motion:
That the South Portland Neighborhood Association support the petition on the streetcar alignment. (See attachment A)  Jim Gardner seconded the motion. 

Ken resumed chairmanship of the meeting. Lew asked if it was possible to re-configure the line so that both lines could be on the east side of Macadam. Vern, said yes however there would be lost parking so parking structures would have to be built. Bill Danneman expressed concern for the businesses south of Carolina. He said if the streetcar went back to the Willamette right-of-way at Carolina those businesses to the south will be cut off from the benefits of the streetcar.  He  said the full Macadam has benefit to all the neighborhood.  He said that the funding might be worked out and we shouldn’t just say it is too expensive so we won't consider it. He also said the maximum amount of development will occur with the full Macadam line.  Bill suggested removing the sentence in the letter suggesting the Carolina return point off Macadam. He said that the return could be decided later and it is important to do it right because it will be there for fifty years or more.  Vern said eliminating full macadam is the position of the condo associations and it was a trade-off .   Jim Davis said it seems in this case we are not interested in maximizing ridership but putting the priority of condo owners first.  Vern said it would not be built if the full alignment was selected due to funding. Ken turned over gavel to Jim Davis. Ken asked if the Richardson alignment is dead and Vern said no. Bill and Vern disagreed on the “full Macadam” definition.  Ken said he would like to see that added. Bill said he was not invited to the most recent meeting. Lee said he was disappointed the SPNA transportation representative was not invited to streetcar meetings.  Vern said the stations were close to the Willamette alignment and Macadam. Jim Gardner said the objections by Dunthorpe will not succeed in court (in fact has already been tried and failed) and there are trains running through now. He said he agreed with Bill’s idea and suggested we amend  the motion to drop the sentence suggesting a Carolina street return. Jim G. said the next step, the environmental statement, is quite expensive if too many alternatives are evaluated. Ken asked Bill to summarize an email in support of the letter from Kerry Chipman which he did.  Bill said every condo owner knew about the rail line when they were built.  Lew asked about the impact to the condos and wondered if it would be good to eliminate the Willamette shore alignment altogether and leave the others.

Ken resumed chairmanship of the meeting.

The motion failed with the vote as follows:
Yea: Lee Buhler, Norm Whitlatch, Debbie Cronk, Phil Wikelund
Nay: Jennifer Daneluk, Lew Pusch, Jim Davis, Elizabeth Galbraith, Jim Gardner, Bill Danneman

Bill Danneman made the following motion:

That the South Portland Neighborhood Association support the petition on the streetcar alignment amended to drop the Carolina street return to the Willamette  Shore and add a sentence asking that the option of returning the streetcar from Macacam to the Willamette alignment on Nevada Street be considered.   Lee Buhler seconded the motion. 

The motion passed as follows:

Aye: Jennifer Daneluk, Bill Danneman, Lee Buhler, Norm Whitlatch, Lew Pusch, Jim Davis, Elizabeth Galbraith, Debbie Cronk, Phil Wikelund

Nay: Jim Gardner

Communications: Lee Buhler displayed the South Portland News and reminded everyone of the concerts and picnic

Transportation: Bill said this morning they unveiled the new streetcar.  Everyone who was anybody was there including the Governor and Secretary of Transportation and all congressmen. The next meeting will be Aug 5th.

Land-use: Jim Davis said Frank Phillips' project is moving forward and he will tear down the old garage. It will be built within a year. The new owners of YMCA are talking to the city about a large parking garage being put in. 

Schools: Jim Gardner said the SWNI schools did not meet in June.
SWNI Transportation: Jim Gardner said Art Pierce gave them a briefing on street plan as they did for us last month on North Macadam.  They also discussed transportation priorities. They picked improvements on Capitol and Red Electric as top priorities. Other priorities included the South Portland Circulation study and finding funding for it. It is a big ticket item and will have to be broken down to get funding. Bill asked if high capacity rail was not the list and Jim said they decided not to put it on because it was beyond the committee's control at this point.

SWNI board: Jim Gardner said the SWNI board passed motion supporting motion from trails on trail liability. There is a city ordinance that makes property owners are liable whereas there is a state law that seems to contradict that. The motion asks the city to take liability and it is not clear if that will happen. SWNI  also supported the Collins View neighborhood in opposing a change in conditional use by Lewis and Clark for athletic fields.

South Waterfront: Lew said there was a postcard asking for survey on Gibbs bridge. Jim Gardner said he had checked into it and said another group at PBOT sent it out and want to get input on several types of pedestrian access issues so they have a baseline and can check in two years what people think.

Parks. Ken said he is pleased with all the support for the summer concerts and he has arraigned for additional parking at OPB and Ankrom Moisen Architects.

Ken Love introduced a motion to cancel the August SPNA Board meeting.  Elizabeth seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:55

Respectfully submitted
Lee Buhler


Attachment A:
PETITION
LAKE OSWEGO TRANSIT CORRIDORE STUDY

The members of [my][our] [organization][association][company] have followed and participated in the Lake Oswego Transit Corridor (LOTC) Study for the Portland Metropolitan Region for several years.

The alternatives analysis undertaken by Metro in 2008 resulted in a commitment by the LOTC Steering Committee to permit a “refinement study” in the Johns Landing segment of the route. This refinement study was triggered because the portions of the two main alignment options – the exclusive Willamette Shore Line (WSL) and exclusive Macadam Avenue alignments, respectively – traveling through Johns Landing have serious flaws, raising significant concerns among various neighborhood stakeholders. 

With the City of Portland’s support, Metro initiated a refinement study earlier this year to identify alternative alignments for the streetcar in Johns Landing that would both meet the overall goals of the project and provide benefits to the neighborhood.  In the course of the study, Metro developed several “hybrids” that include the WSL alignment in the northern, commercially-zoned portion of the neighborhood and then move the route westward into the SW Macadam Street right-of-way for several blocks to avoid negative impacts on the residential portion, containing several hundred housing units. [A representative of [my][our] [organization] [association] [company] served on the Johns Landing Stakeholder Committee during the refinement study.]

[My][Our] [organization][association][company] supports the inclusion of two of these “hybrid” options recommended by the Johns Landing Stakeholder Committee in  the upcoming Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process. 

Furthermore, we support the elimination for EIS consideration of the exclusive WSL option because the negative impacts on the segment from SW Boundary to SW Carolina Streets related to the narrow right-of-way; noise; safety concerns; access conflicts and lack of development and ridership benefits are such that we believe it is not a viable option. In Johns Landing, only two stations can be accommodated within the exclusive WSL option, resulting in little improvement in transit service.  The alignment’s location within an already-developed residential area also significantly limits redevelopment potential.  The resulting conflicts between the streetcar and cars/pedestrians will either slow down the streetcar’s operation or require extensive fencing and access gates, thus, physically dividing the community. We also support elimination of the exclusive Macadam option because of its negative impact on project funding. The proposed hybrid alignments have none of these disadvantages.

In the spirit of cooperation, we urge that Metro select the hybrid alignments broadly endorsed by neighborhood stakeholders for consideration in the upcoming EIS.

Thank you for the opportunity to express [my][our] [organization’s][association’s][company’s] position in this matter.

Name:
Title:
Date:





Portland Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR
DRAFT

Meeting was called to order by Ken Love at 7:06 pm.
Board Members Present: Jim Gardner, Jim Davis, Ken Love, Phil Wikelund, Kerry Chipman, Bill Danneman, Connie Crooker, Lew Pusch, Alisa Dunlap, Elizabeth Galbraith, Lee Buhler.
Agenda
Motion to approve the agenda was made by Jim Gardner and seconded by Jim Davis.  The motion passed unanimously.
Minutes
Motion to approve the minutes was made by Jim Gardner and seconded by Lew Pusch.  Motion passed unanimously.
Cedarwood School Design Presentation--Ben Kaiser & Cory Martin
Cedarwood School in the Lair Hill neighborhood is undergoing a redesign. Instead of tearing down the annex/pool building the school has decided to remodel the space.  The Doyle building is on the historic registry however, the adjoining annex space is not.  The design plans are going through the City’s design review process.  The estimated time schedule is 15 months of construction, with construction set to begin in late summer/early fall.  Overall, the land use committee of the SPNA thinks the solution to the school’s space problem is a good one.  One suggestion made by Land Use Chair Jim Davis was to make sure the parking lot is paved with something that kills moss.
South Waterfront Traffic planning: Art Pierce & Troy Doss
The development is set to happen in the North District area.  Before beginning the street design plan for the area the Bureau directors, property owners, TriMet and Metro came together to begin the planning process.  The construction for the Milwaukie light rail project is set to begin in 2011 and the light rail line is set to open in 2015.  The project is almost fully funded however there are a couple of discrepancies. 
The Moody and Bond couplet was the starting point of the conversation for the new street plan design.  The parks plan has not been completely agree upon.  There is still a concept for a large park under the Ross Island Bridge in the plans.  The area has less parks than it needs but funding is tight.  On the concept maps there is still three distinct parks, the dimensions of the parks may have been adjusted.   One problematic piece of park design is that they are not zoned as open space.  At the moment there is also no funding for the parks that are in the plans, PDC doesn’t have the money.  The parks bureau has done a good job of identifying potential sources of funding for example the new development fee for new buildings.  Problematic about all the parks is that they are not zoned as open space.  We have to get the land owners on board.  The document that gets revised is the street plan which is updated by PBOT and the Planning Bureau keeps the concept map updated.
Willamette Park Parking—Terri Davis
 The company that is hired every summer to manage the parking at Willamette Park costs approx $30,000 and works March – September.  To become more cost efficient SmartPark meters will be installed in the park the long term up-keep costs of the parking meters is much less than paying for the parking management company every year.  During the next 30 days the meters will be installed and they will begin use on July 6th.  The money collected for this now, year round pay to park, will be used for park maintenance.
Several issues were raised by the neighbors:
Q. Now that this is metered parking year round, won’t it force more cars to seek out free parking on the neighborhood streets?
A. We will monitor the impact to the neighborhood and we are committed to working through any issues that may arise for the community.
Q.  Many of the businesses use this lot, where will they park now?
A.  Again, we will continue to work with the community to address these issues.  The businesses may need to look into offering more parking to their employees and customers.
Q.  PBOT is raising the fees on their meters, will this affect these meters?
A.  Willamette Park rates will stay the same, $1 per hour.
Q. What is the cap on parking time?  Will all the meters be the same amount of time?  What about those meeting friends for long boat trips?
A.  This is still being negotiated.  Boat trailers will have special parking spaces that will likely be longer time limits.  Boat trailers will be $3 this summer for a day and next summer it increases to $5.
Q.  The senior discount on parking is being eliminated, correct?
A.  Yes, it will now be metered, flat rate parking only.
Volunteer of the Year
Ken Love nominates Bill Danneman and Lee Buhler for the Volunteer of the Year Award.  Connie Crooker seconded.  Nominations are unanimously approved.
Standing Committee Reports
Communications- Lee Buhler
 Bands for the concerts have been booked.  We are also developing an 8 page flyer with the business association.  This will be mailed before July 4th.
Transportation-Bill Danneman
Revitalization of streetcar to Lake Oswego project is continuing.  Neighborhood should keep close watch this project could have a negative impact on some residents. 
Land Use-Jim Davis
 The only big land use issue in the neighborhood is the Cedarwood School and we just heard a presentation on that project.
SWNI Schools- Jim Gardner
The SWNI Schools committee struggles to have participants attend the meetings.  The biggest issue that was talked about at the last meeting was the Portland school districts’ budget.
SWNI Transportation- Jim Gardner
The City of Portland will be using federal stimulus money to build sidewalks on Barbur.  There will still be a slight gap in the sidewalk on Barbur but it will mostly be covered.
SWNI Board- Jim Gardner
The Board continued their discussion about trail liability.  There is legislation in Salem that will help with some of the issues but will not fully address the issue.  For now all new trail construction is halted.
Waterfront-Lew Pusch
The community garden is growing nicely.  There is concern among the residents about taking away stop signs during the construction. 
Parks and Greenway- Ken Love
I need to have the SPNA Board approve a $50 membership fee for the South Portland Business Association. Motion was made by Lee Buhler and seconded by Phil Wikelund to approve the $50 membership fee for the South Portland Business Association.  Motion passed unanimously.
Treasury Report-Elizabeth Galbraith
Checking account balance is $1086; the grant money has not been deposited.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:59pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Alisa Dunlap

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South Portland Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR

Meeting was called to order by Ken Love at 7:01 pm.
Elections for the new Board members took place from 7:01 – 7:15 pm.  All nominees were elected by unanimous vote.
Presentations
ODOT
I-405 repaving project.  Work is scheduled to begin in June or July.  Most of the work will take place at night or on the weekends.  There will be weekend closures on either the North bound or South bound direction of 405 from 10:00 pm Friday’s to 5:00 am Monday morning.  This night closure will allow work to be completed in a shorter amount of time.  The detours for closures will be onto I-5.  The weekend closures will occur between July and September.  
I-5 Iowa Street Project.  ODOT received a federal earmark to fix the via ducts in both the South and North bound directions.  The project should start February 2001 and last approximately 2-2.5 years.  It will be a noisy project but most work will occur during the day.  There will be an initial phase of the project where ODOT will be building new alternative lanes to route traffic.  There will also be some trail closures.  There is also hope that ODOT can help with some of the trail projects in the Iowa Street area since the project will already be in the area.  There will be a couple of open houses on the project. 
Jake Braking.  If 6 people can sign a letter stating that they have heard at least 4 instances of Jake Braking the City will create a stricter enforcement policy against Jake Braking.
Kristen from CH2MHILL
High capacity transit plan.  The public comment period is closed.  The purpose of the study is to help indicate the next corridors for high capacity transit.  High capacity transit is: light rail, rapid streetcar and dedicated bus lane service.  There were 25 corridors studied.  The ones that would affect your neighborhood would be Portland to Tigard along the Barbur area, Portland to Gresham and Milwaukie through Lake Oswego to Washington County.  The corridors selected will be placed into three categories: short, medium and long term projects.  The first part of the total plan should be ready in July.  After that period, the plan will be incorporated into the larger regional transportation strategy. 
NA concerns:
Displacement of people along Barbur if Barbur is selected for a light rail project.
Dedicated bus lanes not being an efficient and effective way of spending transportation dollars.
Open house for the Portland to Lake Oswego Streetcar project.  Tuesday, May 19th, 5:30 – 7:30 pm on Macadam at the former Easter Seals building.
TriMet Presentation of the Portland to Milwaukie Light Rail Project 
Portland Milwaukie light rail project has 5-6 years until full build out.  The current phase of the project is the bridge study.  The bridge type recommended was a cable-stay.  The details of cable-stay have yet to be determined. 
The project will be fully funded in 2011 and the expected date of revenue service is 2015.  Bus and lightrail will share the same right of way.  The service planners at TriMet will be looking into replacing whatever service is lost in the south waterfront area by moving buses 9, 17 and 19 to the new bridge.  There will be a few open houses in June.  More information can also be found on the TriMet website: www.trimet.org/PM
Officer Ross Crime Report
Crime statistics for April: 
1 Aggravated assault
13 larceny’s (11 thefts from vehicle)
2 vehicle thefts
1 arson (the arson was a fire from a Christmas tree). 
Interesting fact about South Portland crimes, 47% of crimes happen on Wednesday’s from 4:00 – 7:00pm. 
Standing Committee Reports:
Lee Buhler –Communications  
Working on the summer concerts.  Fundraising is a little more difficult this year.   We are working on booking the bands for the concerts.  So far we have raised close to $9000, we need another $2000 or so.
Bill Danneman—Transportation
City permit program is increasing to $45 per year.  The Streetcar received $75M from the Federal Government and is reevaluating the Portland to Lake Oswego project.
Land use—Jim Davis
PSU is building to the North, in the process they are taking out several housing units.  The largest land use project is the Cedar Wood School project.  They are looking to expand the curriculum from a K-5 to K-8.  They are converting the old swimming pool into a gym and a commons room.  They have been careful to not have to go through a historic review.
Schools—Jim Gardner
The Portland Public Schools is considering redesigning the school system to neighborhood schools.  The idea is to try to equalize the high school offerings.  There are large high schools that offer more programs and the smaller high schools that cannot afford to offer as many programs.  Depending on where you live depends on your access.  Portland Public Schools is trying to equalize the disparity.
School visits are still happening go to the SWNI website for more information and to schedule a school tour.
SWNI Transportation—Jim Gardner
The city is looking at the Barbur Blvd Streetscape plan.  They are looking to make pedestrian and bike improvements along Barbur.  Also, looking to make safer crossings and larger lanes.  Most of the suggested improvements north of Capital Hwy have already been made.   New money has become available through the state for sidewalk improvement projects.  Barbur was selected as a top priority for sidewalk improvements.
SWNI Board—Jim Gardner
Jim Gardner did not attend however, Ken and Lee both attended on behalf of SPNA.  There was a heated discussion about trail liability in SW. 
South waterfront—Lew Pusch
 The artists in residence program will be back putting on program on May 28th from 6:00 – 8:00 pm.
Parks and greenway—Ken Love
Trying to get the park bureau to bring back the model of the park now that it is under construction. 
Treasury Report—Elizabeth Galbreath
Checking account balance $1637.48
Ken Love made a motion that the SPNA donate $500 to the summer concert series.  Kerry Chipman seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.

There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 8:59 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Alisa Dunlap
 

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South Portland Neighborhood Association

General Membership Meeting

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR


Meeting was called to order at 7:07 pm.

Introductions.

Agenda
Motion made by Lew Pusch to approve the agenda for the general membership meeting.  Seconded by Jim Davis.  Motion passed unanimously.

Minutes
Motion made by Jim Gardner to approve the general membership minutes from April 2008.  Jim Davis seconded, motion passed unanimously.

Board Election next meeting.  Open for nominations.

Bill Danneman nominates:
Carey Chipman previously served on the Board
Jim Davis
Lee Buhler

Open positions are: Lee Moore, Jim Davis, Jim Gardner, Michelle Giguere, Lee Buhler

Lee Buhler nominates:
Jim Gardner
Lew Pusch
Phil Wikilund
Jim Gardner
Debbie Cronk

Lew Pusch nominates:
Norm Whitlatch for Lee Moore

Motion made by Bill Danneman to close nominations.  Seconded by Ken Love, motion passed unanimously.

Bill Danneman made a motion to accept the nominations by acclimation.  Lee Buhler seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.

Next month elect the officers from the nominated parties.

Motion made by Lee Buhler to adjourn the general membership meeting.  Seconded by Ken Love.  Motion passed unanimously.

South Portland Neighborhood Association

Board Meeting

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR

DRAFT

Board Members Present: Connie Crooker, Alisa Dunlap, Ken Love, Jim Davis, Jennifer Danneluk, Lew Pusch, Bill Danneman, Jim Gardner, Phil  Wikilund, Lee Buhler.

Board meeting called to order at 7:30pm.

Minutes
Motion made by Lee Buhler and seconded by Jim Davis to approve the minutes from February 2009.  Motion passed unanimously.

Presentations
North Macadam Transportation Plan- Portland Bureau of Transportation—Art Pierce   
City council next Wednesday at 2:00pm
Council will vote on the list of high priorities projects.  Once we have received council support then we develop a policy framework.

New changes are an additional fee on system development for new buildings.

Bill Danneman made a motion to support the proposal project recommendations of the North Macdam Transportation Strategy and the overlay. Lee Buhler seconded.

Discussion:
Connie:  Have we ever opposed any of the projects on the list?  What’s going before council?

No, none of these projects have previously been opposed by the NA.  The council will vote on the project recommendations and the update to the plan.  They will also vote on the ordinance initiating the new fee on building development as a new funding stream.
Motion passed unanimously.

Standing committee reports
Transportation—Bill Danneman

The city permit program is increasing fees this year to $45 per year.

April 8th at  2pm City Council is voting on the North Macadam Transportation Plan.

With the new transportation stimulus money, the Streetcar extension to Lake Oswego is back on the table.

Land Use- Jim Davis
No large projects. 

Schools—Jim Gardner
On-going school visits for1 hour.  See classrooms and observe what’s happening at your local schools.

SWNI Board- Jim Gardner
Elected and voted on.

SWNI Transportation- Jim Gardner
Through the federal stimulus package the City of Portland is receiving approximately $14-15M.  Most of this money will go toward street paving, at the SWNI meeting $2M was given as the number for sidewalks.  Potential project for our neighborhood are the gaps on Barbur.

South Waterfront- Lew Pusch
South side of Atwater building for community garden.

Parks and Greenway- Ken Love
Greenway is moving ahead.  We will have representation as it moves.

Communications – Lee Buhler
Mailing to all residents in our neighborhood will go out in June or July.  We will be using money from our small grant award to pay for the mailing.

There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 8:25pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Alisa Dunlap

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South Portland Neighborhood Association

Board Meeting

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR

Unofficial minutes due to the lack of a quarum

Attendance: 

Board: Jennifer Daneluck, Elizabeth Galbraith, William Danneman, Ken Love, Lee Buhle, James Gardner

Guests: David Schleich, Keith North, Marilynn Considine, Terri Davis, Steve Kautz, Debbi Cronk, Tom Naguchi, Jody Yates

The meeting was not called to order due the lack of a quarum.

Trimet: Steve Kautz from TriMet talked about service reductions. Payroll taxes are down so they will have to cut back. They are looking at a 5% cutback on services. They are trying to have as little impact as possible. Most lines in South Portland are not affected. However, Bus 43 would be discontinued on weekends. They have been getting a lot of comments and Steve encouraged people to put in comments.

Keith asked about the rate increase and ridership.  Steve said there is an increase in ridership and the fare increase helped.

Tom asked about fareless square.  Steve said they are looking into that There are several options.

Ken asked if 43 was the only west side reduction and Steve said it was not and handed out a listing of all the service cutbacks.

Jim asked if there were ways to cut back without reducing services.  Steve said they have been trying to do that via a hiring freeze as well as other ways. Jim asked if there were salary reductions and Steve said not at this time.

Gibbs Bridge: Jody Yates from Portland Bureau of Transportation talked about the Gibbs Pedestrian Bridge. She said they are close to 90% design. She displayed a 3D image of the bridge.  There are very close to budget but it is hard to predict at this point.  There will be a great view of Mt. Hood. Construction is on schedule and will start in October.

Naturopath College: Dr Schliech president of the National College of Naturopathic Medicine talked about their growth and plans.

Willamette Park parking: Terri Davis from Parks talked about a new proposed program for metered parking in Willamette Park

Respectfully Submitted.

Lee Buhler

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South Portland Neighborhood Association

Board Meeting

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR


Meeting was called to order at 7:02pm.



Guest Presentations:

Commissioner Nick Fish presentation on Affordable housing/parks and greenway

Issue #1: Park naming—The South Portland park name is still on the drawing board. 

Issue #2: Affordable housing is in the eye of the beholder. My office has been conducting joint budgeting and has been bringing many groups together to consider affordable housing.  In your neighborhood, Block 49, is up for consideration of veteran’s housing. 

Issue #3: Greenway—I am committed to getting the greenway built. Zari Santner and I will be working to get through the hoops.  There are funds for this project however it will need to be phased.  I am committee to getting the greenway finished.

Question and Answer with Commissioner Nick Fish:

Q: I support affordable housing however, in this neighborhood, where would people go to buy groceries?  There are not affordable groceries in this neighborhood.
A:  The Portland Plan includes a thing called 20-minute neighborhoods, where a person should be able to get to services within 20 minutes walking time. 

Q: Grocery store in parcel 8?
A: Safeway in the Pearl is a great model. Parking on the top of the building.  Mixed use of the building to maximize space.

Q: Name for the park. I like “Love” Park at the South Waterfront.

Q: What are you doing with off leash rules?
A: We have a pretty good system now.  We are reviewing new plans for off leash areas. The Parks Department has learned from past mistakes with off leash areas.

Q:  What about William Johnson park?  The first log cabin in Portland was built by William Johnson.  There was a plaque but it had to be moved because of Naito.  The log cabin was the first non-native American settlement in Portland.
A: There was also a sheriff named William Johnson, he died near the esplanade.  The time period for naming the park is the next few months, we will need to vet all the names.

Q: Have you thought at all about a Montessori pre-school. This neighborhood does not have very many young families?
A: When we re-zoned the river district we tried to incorporate incentives for family friendly units.  We will do the same here.
 

Agenda
Lee Buhler made a motion to approve the agenda, Jennifer Danneluk seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.

Minutes
Lee Buhler made a motion to approve the minutes, Elizabeth Galbreath seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.

Treasury Report
Checking—$860.00
Savings—$1000.63

Announcements
Barbee Williams.  Portland Police is considering shrinking from 5 precincts to 3 in the SW and taking away 6 NERT officers.  They are having a meeting at the Multnomah Arts Center from 6-830pm, please be heard.

Water Bureau- Tim Hall
Fulton pump station has to be replaced it has reached maximum capacity. Closing the street to rebuild was going to be a big inconvenience to the neighborhood.  Then the suggestion to build inside Willamette Park was made.  The materials are close and therefore the costs were significantly less.

Expanding the footprint of the restroom.  Next step is to go to a CAC for the design review and input. Water bureau wants SWNI to be involved.  South Portland will be the biggest player. The approximately $600K saved by going this route will be used within the park itself and parks bureau. 

SWNI Transportation—Bill Danneman SWNI would like to know our thoughts on the bicycle plan.  There is talk of a bike boulevard on Corbett and/or Slaven Road and to add bike lanes to Naito.  The idea is to connect the bike lanes/boulevard to the Red Electric Trail.  Concerns over bike lanes on Naito.  Naito traffic already too fast, bikes lanes not safe and would not work to shrink the lanes like we have wanted to.

South Portland Business Association—Brian, President of Association
SPBA is at 50 members and was accepted by APNBA for a second grant of $1500 for a mass mailer.  The Association is also looking into throwing a community event once a quarter.  On March 31st we wil be hosting a retail fare at the Portland French School. There will be a silent auction to raise money for a click map of South Portland. Business association is also looking to support the concert series this summer.

Point of order: Jim Gardner motion to extend the meeting 30 minutes, Lee Buhler seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.

Standing Committee Reports

Transportation—Bill D. 
Streetcar meeting had a presentation from TriMet.  TriMet is cutting 8-10% of its budget.  This means route changes and some route eliminations.  They are holding an Open House on 2/25 4-7pm to discuss the options for Fareless Square and operation changes.

Pedestrian bridge is 60% designed.  Jodi Yates will make a presentation in March.

The North Macadam Transportation strategy, who pays for the projects?  It is going to city council by April 8th. 

SWNI Transportation- Jim G.
Bike plan which Bill mentioned.  Also, SWNI discussed the Barbur streetscape plan and  high capacity transit corridors will be discussed at Metro on 2/24.

SWNI Board-Jim G.
City bureaus propose to significantly reduce budgets for next year.  Items likely to go are, community outreach and neighborhood small grants.

Schools- Jim G.
Every school is open for a school visit. 

Land Use- Jim D.
Mirabella is a platinum LEED design.  All South Waterfront buildings are striving to be eco-friendly.

Water front-Lew.
Questions about TMA? TMA is money for a neighborhood advocate at the city.
This area has multiple groups with overlapping interests. But each of the buildings have an HOA, correct?  Yes, and the South Waterfront has a community association which business is represented, OHSU has voting rights.

Parks and Greenway—Ken L.
Plan to pressure Commissioner Fish to get the greenway going. 

Communications—Lee B. Starting to plan concerts.  We will need sponsors, in the economic time it might be difficult we should start looking now.

Adjourned 9:25pm.

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South Portland Neighborhood Association

Board Meeting

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR

DRAFT

Meeting was called to order at 7:04pm.

Board Members Present: Jim Gardner, Alisa Dunlap, Ken Love, Lew Pusch, Lee Buhler, Phil Wikilund, Bill Danneman, Jim Davis, Lee Buhler, Elizabeth Galbreath.

Introductions: Barbara McCloud is a guest and is considering joining the Board.

Agenda
Bill Danneman made a motion to approve the agenda, Lew Pusch seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.

Announcements by the Chair
We had a good turnout for the acceptance of our Spirit of Portland award.  Not quite sure what to do with it.  I have been thinking of keeping it a month at the Umpqua bank and a month at the Ross Island grocery.  Any other suggestions are welcome.

In the next couple of months I would like to have Commissioner Nick Fish come to our meeting to discuss his plans for the Parks Bureau and Housing.  I’d like to start discussions with him about what our vision is and have continuing dialogue.

Minutes…corrections, names to named
Lee Buhler made a motion to approve the minutes, Lew Pusch seconded.  Motion passed with 9 “yeas” and 1 “abstention” from Jim Gardner who was not able to attend the December meeting.

Treasury Report
Checking—$1436.16
Savings—$1000.38

Grant Acceptance
SPNA was awarded the full $2000 grant.  We were one of the only recipients to receive the full amount.  If the budget cuts are as severe as Commissioner Fritz has been saying then the grant program may not exist in the future.  We also need to start thinking about the summer concerts; rounding up donations may be more difficult this year.

Standing Committee Reports

South Portland Business Association—Elizabeth G.
Next Monday, January 12th at Umpqua bank the business association is holding an open house for anyone interested in hearing more about the business association and its members.  At 5:30pm there will be a networking event at 6:15pm the Q&A will begin.  The business association would also like to sponsor a summer concert.

Also, the business association would like a letter of support from the neighborhood association supporting the business associations’ request for a mailer grant.  The mailer would be sent to all the residents of South Portland, like the SPNA mailer. 

Lee Buhler made a motion for the neighborhood association to sign a letter of support, supporting the South Portland business associations request for a mailer grant.  Bill Danneman seconded the motion.  Motion passed unanimously.

Central City Plan Update from Karl Lisle, Portland Planning.

The original central city plan was adopted in 1988 and we are looking at the future planning of urban renewal districts on the west side. 

We are looking at areas that are likely to be redeveloped and the value to the improvements to the land.  The south waterfront has a lot of re-developable land, some is already included in the North Macadam urban renewal district but other areas are under review for a new urban renewal district.  Right now, we are in the stages of weighing the costs (known and predicted).

Q SPNA: Did the Red Line Building use up all of the amount allotted for that part of the district?

A: No, I am under the impression the Red Line Building was a small percentage.

Q SPNA: None of the Lair Hill area is known for blight.  We have very expensive housing and some of the more recent changes in zoning have made the land even more valuable (i.e. the high rise condo towers, etc).

A:  The city has many tools for creating the urban renewal districts and for coming up with blight.

SPNA: Concerned with raising TIFF money in our district and having the money be spent elsewhere.  We are also concerned with the idea of using urban renewal area money as a way to implement the South Portland circulation study.  In order to raise enough money to implement the South Portland circulation study there would be a lot of up-zoning which would run the character of our neighborhood.  With this said, SPNA would like representation in any meetings that take place about an urban renewal area in our neighborhood.
Karl:  I can come to discuss the plans every few months and someone from the neighborhood should definitely be part of the discussion and planning process.

Standing Committee Reports

Transportation—Bill D.
The next Streetcar meeting is Feb. 4th at 3:30, location is 1140 SW 11th suite 100.  The next Pedestrian Bridge Meeting is Jan. 28th at 9:00am, location is CH2MHILL building 5th floor.  This meeting should provide a more accurate feel for whether this project can actually make the proposed budget.  The Corbett traffic calming project is proceeding weather permitting.  There have been a few complaints about vibrations in the residences.  The city is watching this project. The next North Macadam Transportation Strategy meeting is Jan. 14th at 8:30 am in the Portland Building on the 2nd floor.  The main agenda item is to reevaluate the funding strategy.

SWNI Transportation, SWNI Board and Schools—Jim G

All these meetings were cancelled due to the snow.  However, one thing that the schools committee has been exploring is school tours.  These would be organized school visits during the regular school day for any interested residents.  So far the feedback from the schools has been positive.  If you are interested please contact: wwfuller@teleport.com, 503-246-2328 or 503-764-5501 cell.

Land Use—Jim D. 
No land use meeting in December.  Not a lot going on just some window treatments and small items.  Next month we will take a look at the map of the construction on SW First.  The SW First project is the only major land use project going on right now. 

South Waterfront—Lew Pusch
The house tour last month raised a little over $2000 for the Neighborhood House.

Parks and Greenway—Ken
In the next couple of months I’m hoping to get Commissioner Fish to attend a meeting and answer some of our questions about the greenway.  I will also be attending a couple of meetings with the water bureau regarding the plans for a new depot on the water front.  They say they are willing to give $700M back to the neighborhood is they don’t have to build a new pipeline.

Communication—Lee Buhler
Communications meeting was canceled due to snow.  Since we received the full grant amount, I’m still looking at different ways to use the money.  It would be nice to collaborative with the business association.  If they are wanting to do two mailers maybe we can combine efforts and send out a combined mailer in the spring.  We need to start thinking about bands for the summer concerts.  I also updated the website. 

City Hall Meeting, Tuesday, January 6th:-Ken Love
The Mayor expressed a big desire for the neighborhoods and NA’s to voice their opinions on City issues.  He also stressed how influential we can be with the legislators.

During the design commission briefing for the greenway, Mark Williams gave an OHSU update.  OHSU has serious plans for their first building; it’s a collaborative building between OUS/OHSU.  Funding for this building was included in the governor’s recommended budget and OHSU received an anonymous $40M for this building.

Meeting adjourned at 8:35 pm.




South Portland Neighborhood Association

Board Meeting

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR

DRAFT

Meeting called to order at 7:01pm by Ken Love.

Agenda
Additions, Lee Buhler would like to add the red electric trail.  Jim Davis would like to add a short talk on the lack of US mail boxes in the area.  Ken Love adds the Portland Water Bureau at 8:15pm.

Motion was made by Jim Davis to approve the agenda as amended; Lee Buhler seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.

Minutes
Corrections:  The word “MTIFF” was really supposed to be “MTIP.”  Motion made by Lee Buhler to accept the minutes as corrected; seconded by Elizabeth Galbreath.  Motion passed unanimously.

Treasury Report
$1436.60 savings
$100.38 checking

Presentations

Safety Update
Officer Ross reported that there were 10 burglaries in the neighborhood, 8 were burglaries at businesses, 2 were residential.  There were 11 counts of larceny theft, 5 thefts from vehicles and 2 vehicle thefts. 

TriMet- Steve Kautz
New transit mall opens to buses in May 2009, the Green and Yellow light rail lines start operation in Sept 2009.  Green Line service plans include moving buses currently operating on 3rd and 4th back to 5th and 6th.  Bus routes along Columbia and Jefferson will continue as they are operating now.  Bus line 35 to Oregon City will be adding trips.  This line will divert to South Waterfront in the south bound direction.

Bus Line 8 will be re-routed to go down 5th avenue, turn up Clay to Broadway and up 6th to OHSU.  The line 8 bus will move from 3rd/4th streets to 5th/6th and will cross over the freeway and continue west bound on Caruthers.   This route change is proposing to remove a loading zone 15-minute parking space on 6th and Sherman outside Terwilliger Plaza.  The City of Portland has generally given TriMet the ok for this change.

Comments:  Bill Danneman.  The configuration of the stop bar along that street was previously back further.  TriMet and the City have already removed parking spaces from our neighborhood.  SPNA doesn’t have the permit parking program that other neighborhoods currently have in place.  Furthermore, Caruthers in a very busy street.  People coming from Hwy 26 trying to access OHSU from Ross Island Bridge already have enough trouble navigating that area.  Placing buses on SW 5th and 6th might further block traffic. 

Jim Davis.  There is a line of cars in the afternoon already backed up onto the Hill from the freeway.  The buses will likely not be able to make a left hand turn at Caruthers.  Caruthers at 4th is heavily congested; it often takes 2 – 4 rotations of the light to make that turn.  I personally don’t want Caruthers and 6th to be the same as Caruthers and 4th.

Gibbs Pedestrian Bridge- Jodi Yates
The bridge will go from the base of the tram to the intersection of Gibbs and Kelly.  There has been extensive research done by the CAC on design.  The Extradose and Cable Stay are the last remaining designs.  With the significant grade change from Lair Hill to the South Waterfront there has to be an elevator tower to meet ADA standards.  There will also be a staircase.  The view from the bridge will go out to Mt. Hood.  The view corridors were a big deal to the CAC.  More information can be found at: www.gibbsbridge.org.  Construction should begin next fall and the bridge should open in the fall of 2010. 

PDOT North Macadam Transportation Strategy- Art Pierce
Catalogued all the possible projects and determined which are the highest priorities.

The Greenway trail system which seeks to connect the South Waterfront to PSU along 405 is high on the list.  Also on the list is expanding sidewalks from Hood to Porter on Kelly Avenue; a guard rail and crossing on the south end and re-routing the line 35 bus into the neighborhood. 

Top motor vehicle priorities focus on supporting future vehicle traffic demands to the area. 

Naturopathic College Update- Sue Yirka
Master plan is to partner with the South Portland neighborhood.  Short term building plan is to move the clinic from 1st Ave to the newly acquired building. 

Comments: Bill Danneman. Should there be a committee that combines transportation, land use and any others to work with the Naturopathic college? 

Jim Davis.  That committee would be too large to get anything done.  What about an ad hoc committee whose members are appointed by Ken?
Motion made by Jim Davis to have one ad hoc committee whose members will be named by the chair.  Seconded by Lee Buhler.  Motion passed unanimously.

Water Bureau- Scott and Sarah 
 Update on the relocation of a water main under Naito.  The first area will be on 1st Avenue.   SW Woods and SW Grover the ramp that comes in will be affected and cause traffic impacts.  The pit will be about 36 feet long. 

Comments about Gibbs Pedestrian Bridge: John Perry.  Pedestrian amenities on the west end of the Gibbs Bridge should be considered.  There should be pedestrian access to OHSU via Terwilliger to Campus drive.  Gibbs alignment should be a first class pedestrian right of way. ODOT doesn’t want a crossing over Naito because it’s too dangerous.  We should consider where people are going when they are in our neighborhood.

Point of order: Jim Gardner makes a point of order to extend the meeting by one half hour ending at 9:30pm; Lee Buhler seconded the motion.  Motion passed unanimously. 

(Continue John Perry comment) The corridor up through the woods to Terwilliger should be redone.  This would allow for better access to through the neighborhood. 

Motion was made by Bill Danneman to support the use of the Gibbs right of way between SW Kelly to OHSU/Terwilliger as a main pedestrian and bike route.  Seconded by Jim Gardner.  Motion failed.  (Yea’s: 3 Nea’s: 7)

Comments: Jennifer Danneluk proposed a survey for more information about the potential and current travelers using that right of way to determine who the travelers are and where they are going.

Committee Reports

Transportation-Bill Danneman
I will be attending the next streetcar meeting.  Lake Oswego extension does not have a new committee yet.  The Corbett traffic ramps are complete however, can’t put in an elevated cross walk until the summer due to the rain.

Communications- Lee Buhler
Turned in the neighborhood grant application.  It is very similar to last years.  Save your political lawn signs, we can use these for neighborhood signs.  The red electric trail goes from the Willamette River to Beaverton.  It’s a greenway trail.  This neighborhood has always supported the red electric trail.  I will be going to Metro to testify for funding at the end of the month. 

SWNI Schools- Jim Gardner
Our neighborhood feeds into three grade schools, two middle schools and two high schools.  The Portland public schools department had the largest entry on the spreadsheet at the last meeting. 

SWNI Transportation-Jim Gardner
SWNI transportation committee also supports the red electric trail and has ideas for the MTIP money collected from the project.  Using STIP, rebuild two of the structures that Barbur Blvd uses.  Also, expand the 99W and I5 interchange.

SWNI Board- Jim Gardner
Nothing to report.

South Portland Business Association- Elizabeth Galbreath
There are several new members.  The Association finally launched their website organized.  They also have a networking group that meets on the 2nd Monday of the month.

Land Use- Jim Davis
Cedar Woods school has plans to expand.  They showed pictures at the last committee meeting.  Impacts of the expansion to the neighborhood would be minimal.

Postal service
Can the SPNA communications committee write a letter to the post master in Portland stating that there is no mail box in the north end of the neighborhood?  The letter should ask why there is no mail box in the north end of Lair Hill, Duniway Park, and Broadway to 4th Avenue to the I405.

South Waterfront- Lew Pusch
Nothing of note to report.

Parks and Greenway-Ken Love
Nothing of note to report.

There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 9:29pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Alisa Dunlap

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South Portland Neighborhood Association

Board Meeting

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR

DRAFT
Meeting called to order at 7:04pm.

Board Members Present:  Elizabeth Galbreath, Alisa Dunlap, Jennifer Danneluk, Ken Love, Jim Davis, Michelle, Bill Danneman, Lew Pusch, Lee Buhler, Jim Gardner.

Agenda

Add Officer Ross on the agenda.

Add the Compromised Agreement with Hillsdale Neighborhood to the agenda around 8:15 pm.

Motion to approve the agenda as amended Jim Gardener, seconded Bill Danneman.  Motion passed unanimously.

Announcements

Community policing, crime prevention festival is 10/29.  Honor the police officers in SW Portland.

Neighborhood grant applications are due on 11/3.  We are asking for $2000.00, same as last year.

10/7 David Evans and Assoc.  South Portland Transportation 5-8pm Gibbs Ped Bridge, N. Mac transportation strategy, bike paths, Development charges (eligible projects), NMAC transportation management within the URAC.

Minutes
August and Sept Minutes

Lew Pusch motioned to approve the August and September minutes.  Lee Buhler seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.

Treasury Report
$ 1000.38 in savings
$ 1436.66 in checking

Crime Statistics—Ross
Crime Stats August and September:
2 burglaries, 5 theft from vehicles, 2 vehicle theft.  Significant reductions from last year.

TriMet- Steve
RE-open transit corridor on 5th and 6th late fall.    More ridership on TriMet due to gas hike, trying to encourage businesses to let employees have flexible hours.  Adding two more trips from Oregon City on line 35 to downtown.  Continuous loop to PSU, in the mall area every 5 minutes during weekdays.

Jim Davis concerned about the safety and security of yellow line.   Steve, from TriMet mentioned that TriMet’s Executive, Fred Hanson announced this week that he will be adding more officers to the trains and doubling the number checking fares.  Public open house on October 8th at PSU in the Smith Building from 10:30 – 1:30pm.  New idea to move the #8 line off Broadway, outbound off of Caruthers.  Bill Danneman warns that removing the #8 bus from its current course would make traffic even worse.  The neighborhood would also fight TriMet if there was removal of on street parking to move the bus line.

Stephanie Adams-SWNI crime prevention
Pedestrian Tunnel (ONI)

There is no good alternative to the crossing at Kelly and Naito.  The main problem is visibility and speed on Naito.  The other tunnels have alternatives however, the tunnels, as is, are not very safe or well lit.  Digital photo and online report for graffiti is available.

Jim G.—Portland Circulation Study
Hillsdale opposed having Naito turn right onto Artur along Kelly to the Bridge.  City of Portland didn’t take that into consideration all that much but Hillsdale has pushed for direct access to Ross Island Bridge.  The compromise is for SPNA to maintain direct access from Naito to Bridge, maybe shrinking Naito during rush hour traffic. No parking during rush hour on the street.  Both neighborhoods (Hillsdale and SPNA) would support some direct access to the Bridge from Naito and pro-time parking.  If that agreement is made, then Hillsdale will stop opposing the South Portland circulation study

Committee Reports

Transportation—Bill D.

Open House at PSU, one stop shop for information.  Gibbs ped bridge not moving forward.  Design was chosen however too expensive.  All plans are over budget.  Our resolution is that the SPNA supported a bridge design within the budget, we can’t support any of the proposals.  Bill D. will testify that SPNA cannot support any of the projects.


SWNI Transportation
Participating in metro’s m-tiff discussions.  Also, participating in the SW Neighborhoods  plan for capital hwy. 

SWNI Board
Didn’t attend. 

Schools
Defibulators being placed in public schools.  SWNI was supportive of this effort.

South Portland Business Assoc.
Riverfest attendance totals were about 2000. 

Land Use
Nothing in the last two months. 

South Waterfront
Discovery center plans.  There are 3 people interested to put retail space there.  Portland State is moving their archives out of a building on South Waterfront. 

Parks and Greenway
Grant application due in November.

Communications
Grant due before next meeting please contact Communications with ideas.   

There being no further business, meeting adjourned at 9:00pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Alisa Dunlap

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South Portland Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008
Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR
 
Meeting called to order at 7:03pm by Ken Love.
Members present:  Elizabeth Galbraith, Jim Gardner, Lew Pusch, Bill Danneman, Lee Buhler, Michelle Giguere, Ken Love, Alisa Dunlap.
Agenda
Jerry Ward will be late; we need to move his presentation later on the agenda. 
Motion made by Lew Pusch to accept the agenda as amended.  Lee Buhler seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.
Announcements
Debbie Castleton from Environmental Services having an open house at the Portland French School on 9/23 from 5:00-7:00pm. Will be about the traffic calming project and corner extensions.
Schnitzer Campus Update—Mark Williams Associate VP Campus Planning and Development
Presented and solicited input all over Portland.  Background as to why we are building the campus.  The main reason is the healthcare workforce shortage. Not only are the baby boomers getting older but many of the doctors, nurses and dentists are again too.  As these folks retire and age, they become healthcare consumers instead of healthcare providers.  The idea of the Schnitzer Campus is to create an integrated science and technology quarter where the healthcare education of docs, dentists and nurses is interdisciplinary.  Having the light rail alignment and the streetcar design come through the edge of the Schnitzer property helps make the dream of a science and technology quarter a reality.  You are all aware of the transportation difficulties in the South Waterfront area which is why the light rail project and streetcar are so important to the success of the science and technology quarter. Also, we are trying to create a lively area around the campus; lively and sustainable.  We don’t want to create a “dead zone” where students, researchers and the public are afraid to roam the campus at night.  The picture you see here is a horizontal plan of the campus. All the building designs are in conceptual phases.  As you can see there is a lot of green space, there is 19,000 square feet more green space than the City’s original greenway design. The idea is to have the middle of campus be accessible by bike and pedestrian only.  The outer streets would be open to car, bus and rail. In order to maintain sustainability we’re aiming for a carbon neutral campus, with a LEED Platinum certified building (like Center for Health and Healing).  We’ve moved almost all the parking underground which helps to make the roof tops and buildings generate more solar power.  We’ve been collaborating with the other OUS institutions and have started plans for the first building on the campus which would be a life sciences collaborator building with PSU, OSU, U of O and OIT.  We are trying to create a diverse campus with businesses, retail, housing, etc.  We will need private partners to build due to the expense. The maximum city height code is 250 with discretionary up to 325, we will stay within those limitations, however as noted, the building designs are horizontally conceptual.  There are no open space requirements for the campus.  There is over 100 feet of greenway space from river included in our plan, this is more than the City requires. The campus will be open to the public with a couple of main campus entrances.  There will be some internal quasi-public roads but all bike, pedestrian and transit options will be open to the public.
ODOT Naito speed reductions—Jim Gardner
Pedestrian crossing designs are in process however, any that cross Naito are not very safe.  The speed limit is 40 MPH.  A solution to make a crossing safer is to have the speed limit lowered on Naito. City cannot lower the speed because ODOT owns the road.  The best approach is to have citizens, the neighborhood association and the City all ask together. 
A motion was made to send a letter to ODOT (with copies to Sam Adams and Sue Keil) outlining why the speed limits should be reduced on Naito from Barbur Blvd to Arthur Street.  The suggested speed limit to be set at 25 MPH.  Lee Buhler seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.
North Macadam Transportation Plan update—Bill Danneman
Move traffic efficiently in and out of the district.  Next meeting 9/17. 
URAC Update—Jerry Ward
Acquire 2 acre park in the North district.  I question the view corridors on OHSU’s Schnitzer Campus.  I oppose their plan; there is no plan for large open space or for a 2 acre park.  The campus will not be a public area, even though it may be stated as such.  What are the requirements on OHSU for planning open space or a park?  Given what OHSU’s design calls for, the Board should heavily pursue parks in the North district, there will be superblocks on the campus and these do require a certain amount of green space (like the Lloyd district).
Motion made that the South Portland Neighborhood Association prefers a 2 acre continuous park in the North district as defined by the URAC with no specification of location.  Bill Danneman seconded.  Motion passed unanimously. 
Point of order made by Bill Danneman to extend the meeting an additional 30 minutes.   Lee Buhler seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.
Business Association Report—Elizabeth Galbreath
River Fest announcement.  SPNA Board has a table.
Land Use-Jim Davis 
Not in attendance.
Transportation—Bill Danneman
Next North Macadam Transportation Plan meeting is September 17th, 8:30am, Portland Building.  Will be pushing them on the Ross Island Bridge. 
The Streetcar environmental impact study for the Lake Oswego stretch will start in January.  The current estimate for that segment is $4 million.
The #35 bus is tentatively scheduled to start being routed into this area in May 2009. 
Pedestrian Bridge Project.  The next meeting is September 24th in the Portland Building at 9:00am. At this meeting a design will be selected.
Traffic calming project will begin the third week of September.  The City will be installing curb extensions and speed bumps throughout the SW.
SWNI Transportation—Jim Gardner
Metro is starting to look at high capacity transit corridors (i.e. areas that would combine light rail, bus, and streetcar).  Barbur Blvd. has been identified as one of these corridors.  Most of the residents in the SW think Barbur is an ideal place to extend bus, streetcar and light rail.  The main concern is over the north end of Barbur, north of Bancroft.  In order to put in light rail 47 houses would need to be removed for this section.  While all of this is in very long range development, we should be aware that there could be a major drawback for our neighborhood if this ever came to fruition.  
SWNI Board—Jim Gardner
Nothing to report.
SWNI Schools—Jim Gardner
Nothing to report.
South Waterfront—Lew Pusch
Nothing to report.
Parks and Greenway—Ken Love
Nothing to report.
Communications—Lee Buhler  
Still recovering from the summer.  However, Jim Davis for land use wanted me to let you know that there was a request from the Cedar woods school to present on tearing down their swimming pool.  The reason this is of importance to us is because it is a historic building.  They are trying to garner support for the surrounding committee before they apply for the permits to demolish the building.
Grant application due November 4th for next year.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:29pm.
Respectfully Submitted,


Alisa Dunlap

South Portland Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting
Wednesday, August 6th, 2008
Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR
 
The South Portland Neighborhood Association Board Meeting was called to order by Chair Ken Love at 7:10pm.   
Board members present:
Lee Buhler, Bill Danneman, Ken Love (Chair), Alisa Dunlap, Elizabeth Galbreath, Jim Gardner, Lew Pusch, Jennifer Daneluk , Lee Moore and Jim Davis.
Absent:
Connie Crooker, Phil Wikiland, Michelle Giguere and Audrey Seto.
Minutes
Minutes to reflect the pipe work being done is not just Lane and Curry but Lane to Curry, Kelly to First Avenue, North on Naito to Porter.
Vera Katz rail alignment should be changed to Sherman-Porter alignment.
Motion was made by Lee Buhler to approve the minutes with amendments, seconded by Lew Pusch.  Motion passed unanimously.
Announcements
Ken gave a big thanks to Bill, Lee and Jennifer for helping make the annual picnic run smoothly.  Ken mentioned that Parks made a comment about how successful the neighborhood has been over the last 2 years.
Bill, Lee and Jennifer thanked Ken for his help too.
OHSU South Waterfront Campus
Jerry Ward on the URAC committee needs guidance on the neighborhoods position on the OHSU Schnitzer campus.  The campus is design to have pocket public parks throughout the campus.  What are the Board’s thoughts?
Jim Davis: This neighborhood has long stood against pocket parks.  We’re already one park down from what we were promised by the City.  The City hasn’t even finished the park across from where we are sitting, why are they thinking about a new project?  I don’t like the idea of OHSU trying to pit us in between the City and themselves.  I strongly suggest that we do not get involved.
Lee Moore:  I agree, I think it’s a bad idea to get involved.  OHSU should illicit input for the property they are responsible for not things they have no control over.  Also, what is the jetty in the river?  How do they plan to get that approved by the City?
Jim Gardner:  I don’t know enough to give my input.  What is that requirement for park space on the Schnitzer campus?  Personally, I think anything on that campus will not be perceived as a city park, even if it technically is a city park.  The park space on the campus is going to look and feel like part of OHSU.  If they think pocket parks best suit their needs then I think that is best for the campus.  The greenway is a separate issue.  The greenway will have to go through city code.
Lee Buhler:  I like the picture of the campus.  There is so much green.  Pocket parks on this campus make sense to me.  I don’t think we should oppose the pocket park idea just out of fear of upsetting parks.  We’ve upset them before.
Jim Gardner:  Parks main concern is that pocket parks cost more to maintain.  If OHSU is planning to maintain the parks then this shouldn’t even be an issue.
Bill Danneman:  The official position of this neighborhood has always been to acquire as much park space as possible.  I think we should stand firm on this position.
Jim Davis:  This neighborhood is supposed to have three parks and as it stands, it isn’t clear that we will ever get more than we have now.  Personally, I like pocket parks.  At this point, I think this map is a pretty picture but doesn’t give any details.
Lee Moore: How big is a pocket park?
Ken Love:  It seems almost unanimous that we would like more information.  I will get Jerry here at the next Board meeting and I’ll also have an OHSU person here to explain more.
Gibbs Street Bridge
There are three designs in the final running.  Everyone loved the bridge that no one can afford.  The City has said they are not willing to give any more money for this project. Next meeting is September 23rd at the Portland Building.  ODOT does not want any stoplights or signs to slow traffic on Naito, this is a big sticking point.  If one of the lesser expensive bridges is chosen then there would be leftover money to use for safe crossings (like signals or flashing speed detector lights).
Names for the Park
Does anyone want to add any suggestions for the park?
Jim Gardner: What about William Johnson Park?  He was the first person to build a structure in Portland.  In fact, the first structure what not too far from here.
Lee Moore: Has the name been vetted? Is there anything else that he did?
Committees
Land Use, Jim Davis
Southwest 2nd fronting the Lair Hill Park has some of the oldest homes in the neighborhood.  There is a condo complex being built.  Land use found a few things, like the stairs, to be unacceptable but as long as the builders follow the historic guidelines then the complex is a good thing.
Land use approves the 17 units of family housing slated for block 33.  This brings 2-3 bedroom units under $300,000.  A first for this neighborhood in years.
Transportation, Bill Danneman
Next streetcar meeting is September 3rd.
SWNI transportation, Jim Gardner
No meeting last month.  Robert Liberty from Metro called a meeting of neighborhoods to think about what the city can do to absorb more population without negatively impacting neighborhoods.
SWNI Land Use, Jim Gardner
City commissioners took a tour of the southwest neighborhoods.  We opted out of this tour because it was felt that there are a lot more issues than a 5 minute tour could do justice.  I think we should try to schedule our own tour. 
SWNI Board, Jim Gardner
End of the budget year and SWNI in the hole on a couple of pieces.  The deficit was caused by the City not paying them for contracts.  Next year, SWNI will ask for the money upfront.
SWNI Schools, Jim Gardner
No July meeting.
South Waterfront, Lew Pusch
Building across the street from Umpqua Bank is almost finished, 10 floors are complete and people have started moving in.  There was a homeless person down by the townhouses who accosted two women while they were walking with their kids.  The grass has been cut down so the homeless man cannot hide out there.  He has not been spotted since the grass was cut.  \
Le Hana restaurant was broken into.  There was vandalism inside the building but no official report of the damages has been identified.
There has been discussion about the design of the buildings on the South Waterfront.  People have complained about their sameness.  The City has said it will push architects to be more creative with the next developments.
Parks and Greenway, Ken Love
It has been a successful summer thanks again for all that made the neighborhood picnic a success.
Communications, Lee Buhler 
I had a great time at the picnic, it was a great success.
$280 was collected at the picnic.
Further Business
Tuesday, August 12th there will be an open house put on by the South Portland Business Association.  It will be held by the Quiznos.
There is a Church in the Park to be held at Willamette Park from 11-on, Sunday, August 17th.
Riverfest begins on August 28th.  South Waterfront Day is September 6th.  There will be a retail fair, food vendors, concerts and more from 11-5 at the park across from the Umpqua Bank.
There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 8:34pm.
Respectfully Submitted,

Alisa Dunlap

South Portland Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008
Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR
The South Portland Neighborhood Association Board Meeting was called to order by Chair Ken Love at 7:25pm, after reaching Board quorum.   
Board members present:
Lee Buhler, Bill Danneman, Ken Love (Chair), Alisa Dunlap, Elizabeth Galbreath, Jim Gardner, Lew Pusch, Jim Davis, Michelle Giguere, and Audrey Seto.
Absent:
Connie Crooker, Lee Moore, Jennifer Daneluk and Phil Wikiland.
Prior to quorum, introductions were made and a presentation from the Portland Water Bureau was made.
Introductions of Board and guests.
Portland Water Bureau Presentation, Sarah and Scott
As part of the capital improvement projects, the City water bureau will be doing construction on piping on SW Kelly, from Lane to Curry, Kelly to First Avenue, North on Naito to Porter.  Traffic flow will be maintained on Naito Parkway.  The project work hours will be Monday – Friday 7am – 7pm.  Neighbors will be notified if there will be Saturday work or extended hours.  Water bureau presented detailed map of the project.  A public meeting will be held prior to the beginning of the project.  Direct any questions to: Sarah Bott, Portland Water Bureau, 503.823.7637 or via email sbott@water.ci.portland.or.us.
Quorum reached 7:25pm.
Agenda
Additions: SW Charter School presentation, Board vote on the Sherman-Porter alignment or the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail project and the treasury report.  Motion was made by Jim Gardner to approve the agenda with additions.  Lee Buhler seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.
Minutes
Corrections on June minutes: Lew Pusch was entered in the minutes as “Lee.”  The meeting was not a “general membership meeting” as recorded it was a Board meeting.  Jerry Ward not a Board member.  Lee Buhler motioned to accept the June minutes as revised.  Bill Danneman seconded.  Motion passed unanimously. 
Treasury Report
Checking account balance $1923.00.  Savings account balance $1000.13.  Money has been taken out for the printing of the newsletters.  There was also a $150.00 deposit from the Naturopathic College.
SW Charter School Presentation
 Holding a benefit for the school on October 10th at the Multnomah Arts Center.  Asking that the South Portland Neighborhood Association co-sponsor the event.  No monetary commitment just a lending of the SPNA name for the event.  Might ask for volunteers for marketing, media and day-of help—but strictly on a voluntary basis. Bill Danneman motioned to lend the SPNA name to co-sponsor the event.  Lee Buhler seconded.  Discussion:  Jim Davis, what is the cost to attend the school?  The school is a public charter school and funded by the State.  It does not charge tuition.  Motion passed unanimously.
Light Rail Alignment
Motion was made by Bill Danneman to support the Sherman-Porter light rail alignment for the Portland-Milwaukie light rail project.  Jim Gardner seconded. Discussion:  Just supporting the alignment portion that goes through our neighborhood. Motion was passed with one opposition by Jim Davis.
Portland Planning Presentation, Steve Iwata
Portland Plan and the Central Portland Plan will be updated.  The last updates were conducted in the 1980’s.
Portland Plan: Critical issues the Portland Plan seeks to address are: climate/sustainability/energy/, prosperity with a changing global economy, population growth, natural systems under streets, affordable living, distinctive and well-designed places, new ways and means (financing infrastructure) and human health and safety.  The Portland Plan will be divided into the following parts: Physical development plan, central port plan, economic development strategy (working with PDC to develop a 5-year plan and a long range 20 -30 year plan), infrastructure plan, and equity/inclusion strategy.  Within one year the City should have a comprehensive plan with an implementation strategy.  Along the way there will be public discussion sessions.  First public hearing was on June 24th. On July 8th the Planning Commission will take public comments.  On August 6th there will be a public hearing on the Portland Plan.  Once approved by the City the Plan then goes onto the State.
Central Portland Plan:  Metro estimates about 53,000 new people in central city by 2030.  The current land capacity in the area is 3000 acres, 400 acres have been designated as re-development potential.
Boundaries for the South Portland area, the area that is being looked at for re-development, is roughly the area covered by the South Portland Circulation Question:  The recommendations of South Portland Circulation was to improve single family homes.  Re-development to increase density seems to run against what the South Portland Circulation Study set out to do.  
Answer:  The City is being sensitive to the historic neighborhood issues.  The City is trying to balance accommodating new growth while maintaining the unique nature of the neighborhoods.
Question: How will parking be factored into the re-development strategy.  Answer:  Parking is a parking and will be addressed.  The City has identified four types of parking: growth, preservation, visitor and undedicated.  However, given the economy and gas prices we’re also looking at transit access (bike, pedestrian, streetcar, bus and light rail).
Workshop and Open House on the Central Portland Plan will be held on July 22nd at the Portland Building, room C.  There are two times: 11:30am and 6:30pm.
Also a meeting for the neighborhood chairs on, Wednesday, July 16th at the 1900 building, 430pm – 6:30pm.
Boys and Girls Society Presentation, Mike Balter
Located at: 108 Boundary Court.  The Boys and Girls Society is a non-profit child welfare organization.  It is not affiliated with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.  It is a Portland institution founded in the 1800’s.  The mission concentrates on three areas of child welfare: permanent families (i.e. adoption), safe housing and mentoring.  The plan is to build a condo-like tower over our existing parking lot to allow for expansion and easier access for our residents.
Standing Committee Reports
Communications: Lee Buhler
First summer concert next Wednesday, July 9th.  Neighborhood picnic Tuesday, August 5th.  Need more books for donation.  Check out the new section on the webpage, which was designed for free from the South Portland Youth Builders.
Transportation: Bill Danneman
Next streetcar meeting in September.  North Macadam transportation strategy meeting August 27th.  They will be prioritizing 4-5 projects.  Meeting will be at 8:30am Portland building, 2nd floor room C.  Pedestrian bridge open house on June 25th went well.  Next meeting is scheduled for July 23rd from 9:00 – 11:30am at the Portland Building. 
SWNI Transportation: Jim Gardner
Presentation from PDOT about the North Macadam development strategy, it was a longer version of what we heard here last month. Still mixed feeling about the “halo” LIDs in SW. Sam Adams proposal for street maintenance fee, dedicated to safety and maintenance.  This project is on hold.  Cost of doing street improvements is rising making it hard to make estimates for projects.  Sam may put this measure on the ballot, however, there are already a lot of money issues going on the ballot in the fall.
SWNI Schools: Jim Garnder
They mostly discussed whether SWNI should take a position on the army reserve center or not.  Proposal for affordable housing, which in turn affects the schools, was a point of contention.  No formal position was made.  It is likely the army reserve center will be used as a response center in case of major emergency.
SWNI Board: Jim Gardner
Modest increase in next years’ budget. Most of the increase will be given to the neighborhood associations.   SWNI Board is also recruiting for outreach coordinator.
Land Use: Jim Davis
Most projects are at a standstill for the time being.  The affordable family housing project located at 1st and Gibbs made it through historic review.  There were problems with the city planner and the actual design of the structure.
South Waterfront: Lew Pusch  
The park across from Umpqua Bank needs a name.  Also, parks and rec are looking for donations (monetary or physical items) for the park.  The information is on the website.
Parks and Greenway: Ken Love
ONI (Office of Neighborhood Involvement) came up with extra money, about $300.  We can use this money to get a new banner with South Portland Neighborhood Association or we can try to refurbish the banner we currently have, our CTLH banner. Ken will look into the paperwork.
There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 8:52pm.
Respectfully Submitted,

Alisa Dunlap

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South Portland Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR
 
General Membership Meeting was called to order by Chair Ken Love at 7:00 pm.
Board Members Present
Ken Love (Chair), Lee Buhler, Jim Gardner, Bill Danneman, Elizabeth Galbreath, Alisa Dunlap, Jennifer Daneluk, Phil Weikland, Jim Davis, Lee Pusch, Audrey Seto, Lee Moore, Michelle Giguere, Jerry Ward.
Absent: Connie Crooker
Portland Police Crime Report
Car break-ins have increased mainly due to people leaving visible items in their cars.  Items that are quick to sell.  Some people police have arrested are targeting the South Portland neighborhood.  The crime spikes are occurring on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  Call 911 if you see a property crime or break-in.
Agenda
Additions: Nicole from OHSU farmers market is here to present.  Bill Danneman would like to add a discussion of attendance and committee membership.
Motion to approve the agenda as amended made by Jim Gardner, seconded by Bill Danneman.  Motion passed unanimously.
Treasury Report
Checking account balance is $3112.00 and savings account balance is $1000.00.
Minutes
Motion to approve the May minutes made by Phil Weikland, seconded by Bill Danneman.  Motion passed unanimously.
Presentations/Announcements
OHSU Farmer’s Market
OHSU Farmer’s market is open from now until October on Tuesdays from 11:30 – 3:30pm.  Complimentary tram passes were left at various South Waterfront businesses.  Ride tram up and walk toward fountain outside School of Medicine.
CH2M Hill Gibbs Street Pedestrian Bridge
Gibbs Street Pedestrian Bridge which crosses I5 and drops down into Lair Hill area.  A Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) has been formed and many SPNA members as part of these meetings.  There will be a bridge design open house on June 25th at the Cedar Woods School.  For more information about the bridge project go to www.gibbsbridge.org.  There is an online survey which will be up until Sunday.  The projected budget is $11 million and the construction portion is $7 million.  Focused on being “on-time and under budget.” 
PDOT:  North Macadam Transportation Planning
Many PDOT projects in the works that affect the South Portland area pedestrian and bike crossings, light rail and new vehicle bridges/on-ramps.  Would like feedback on which projects the neighborhood considers high priority and which are lower priorities. Some of the projects PDOT is considering are already underway and are in line for funding, others will need to start the funding process.
Linda Johnson, Artist in Residence
The project concludes in September.  This summer there will be two large public events at the Waterfront Park which are free and open to the public.  The first is called “Promenade” and will take place fully in the park.  The idea is to “dream the park into being.”   The event is child friendly and there will be no street closures.
The second event is called “10 Tiny Dances.”  This event will take place on August 2nd.  The idea is that around the South Waterfront area there will be 4x4 spaces where dances will be performed. There will be live music and food carts (the food carts will focus on sustainable foods and all materials will be composted).
City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, Stephen’s Creek Update, Matt Burlin
The Stephen’s Creek project is between the Sellwood Bridge and Willamette Park.  The project is focused on habitat enhancement mainly for Willamette River salmon. Brant construction has been hired as the contractor, the City of Portland will supervise project.  Project schedule has been pushed back a little.  Project will start late July/early August and will be a 12-week project.  The State of Oregon limits the amount of work that can be done during certain periods of time because of the fish.  Main areas of concern for the surrounding neighbors are: construction traffic on Highway 43, hours of construction and bike/pedestrian passage along the Willamette greenway. Construction traffic along Hwy 43 will be directed by flaggers.  Hwy 43 will not close.  The construction schedule is Monday – Friday however, there may be some Saturday work if the weather slows construction.  The majority of the work will be conducted in September.  The project managers will have regular meetings and will announce any Saturday work the Wednesday prior. Willamette greenway will detour along the east sidewalk of Macadam.  Sidewalk along Macadam not the best but that is really the only option, only about 800 feet of detour will be necessary.
SW Watershed, Marc Peters
A number of watershed projects to prioritize and then will pick and choose.  Storm water management plans work with businesses and neighbors.  Storm water treatment plans will also been taking input from neighbors and businesses.  There are three areas in SW Portland (Marquam-Woods, Carolina-Terwilliger and California). Marc will leave forms to fill out to address concerns and potential projects. SW Texas Street project is an example of a successful watershed/water treatment project.  The project was completed with the help of an LID (local improvement district), the EPA and the City of Portland.  Total cost of the project is estimated at ~$7 million (however, see website to confirm).
Oregon Department of Transportation, West end of the Ross Island Bridge, Mark Buffington
Roadside vegetation areas and landscaped areas have a $700,000/year budget for 360 acres.  ODOT is planning to clean up the landscaped areas of the west end of the Ross Island Bridge, including the hwy ramps.  Some of the areas are difficult and dangerous to access.  Asking the neighbors for the areas they are most concerned about and potentially asking the neighbors to adopt a section, even a small one, to help out with the clean up/replanting effort. Plan is to start by the 7-11 corner and manually remove the weeds and bushes.  The manual labor is mainly performed by inmates of the Washington and Multnomah county prisons.  The inmates are supervised by armed police officers at all times. By late October/early November the replanting effort should begin.  Concerns about the removal of transients and homeless from the areas were addressed.  Police always give 24 hour notice and handout information on downtown shelters. The city is also planning to build a new building for transients and homeless.
Election of Vice President
Motion to elect Lee Moore as Vice President made by Jim Gardner, seconded by Bill Danneman.  Motion passed unanimously.
Attendance and Committee Membership
Bill Danneman stressed that the more people present at the meetings the more perspectives that are heard.  Alisa Dunlap, recorder, will begin keeping track of Board attendance and will make this part of the minutes. Committee membership by Board members is low.  Bylaws state that Board members must be on one committee.
Standing Committee Reports
Communications—Lee Buhler  
Concerts!  In process of printing flyers, should they be color or black and white? Color is more expensive but Ken said he can have the money replaced by the end of the summer. 
Motion made by Bill Danneman to approve up to another $1000 out of the general fund for color flyers, Jennifer Daneluk seconded.  Motion passed with one opposition vote made by Jim Davis. 
Concert schedule is: July 9th, 630-830; July 16th 630-830; July 23rd 630-830; July 30th 630-830.  The Koral Jam Picnic will be on August 5th 5:30pm.
Transportation—Bill Danneman
Portland plan and Central City plan are being looked at once again.  On June 14th there will be a condensed meeting from 2-5pm at Portland state Smith ballroom 1825 SW Broadway to discuss both Portland Plan and Central City Plan.  Asking for neighbors ideas on projects the City should concentrate on (transportation, more density, etc).
SWNI Transportation—Jim Gardner
Adopted new action plan for the coming year.  South Portland circulation study is in the action plan, SWNI is endorsing.  Three proposals for local “halo” LIDs, for pedestrian and bike improvements.  Halo LID not just to property owners on that street but would apply to a larger area.  Whole idea of halo LIDS did not go over well and the project was shot down.
Hillsdale agreement about the South Portland Circulation Study on hold because of the N. Macadam transportation strategy plans.  Some of this new plan actually implements what we have been advocating for but some of projects may actually generate more traffic along Naito, which we definitely would not want.
Point of order: Bill Danneman made a motion to extend the meeting 30 minutes.  Jim Davis seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.
Schools—Jim Gardner
Not enough for a quorum so the meeting ended after 15 minutes.  FYI: The Portland French School donated $500 to the summer concert series.
SWNI Board—Jim Gardner
SWNI Board held their official elections; Ken Love was reappointed the 1st VP. 
Land Use—Jim Davis
Projects the subcommittee is watching are: Blocks 41, 42 and 45a.  The family housing project on 1st and Gibbs is scheduled to have 16 units of family housing; this is the first family housing project in this neighborhood since the 1950’s-60’s.  The subcommittee is devoted to watching the projects of the City of Portland so that the neighborhood can get involved early and make their voices heard.
Addendum to Jim’s report: Lee Moore has been keeping a watch on elevation changes, especially in new homes. Most neighborhood elevations are driven by curb lines but in South Portland developers can change the elevation just by putting in a retaining wall.  Residential sections of the neighborhood do not have the same protections as commercial or multifamily projects.  This City won’t inspect unless someone complains.  Just to provide an example, there is one project in which the elevation went from 5 feet below grade to 50 feet above grade; this in turn, reduced the views of neighbors by an approximate value of ~$100,000.  We need to be tracking these projects so we can bring our concerns to City officials.
South Waterfront updates—Lee Pusch
Building across the street from Umpqua bank will be high end rentals not condos. Greenway planning has stalled.
Parks and Greenway—Ken Love
City has begun to look at inflation costs for next year and build the estimates into plans for the various projects around our area.  The City also released the timeline for work to be completed on the lower waterfront area which was nicely explained by our presentation from BES earlier this evening.
Ken Love:  I want to thank everyone for coming this evening.  Next month, meeting will be Wednesday, July 2nd at Umpqua bank.
There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 9:27pm.
Respectfully Submitted,

Alisa Dunlap

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South Portland Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting
Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR

Meeting was called to order by Chair Ken Love at 7:03 pm.
Board Members Present
Ken Love (Chair), Lee Buhler, Jim Gardner, Bill Danneman, Jim Davis, Lew Pusch, Elizabeth Galbreath), Alisa Dunlap, Phil Wikelund, Jennifer Danwick.
Agenda
One addition, Mike Hillis, a potential business owner who is closely looking at the South Waterfront area to open a food cart wanted to introduce himself.
No other additions.  Motion made by Lee Buhler to accept the agenda with the addition.  Seconded by Elizabeth Galbreath.  Motion passed unanimously.
Announcements
Ken Love announced that a presentation on the Electric Railway will be held on May 20th at 7pm at the Multnomah Senior Center.  Presentation given by the historic society.
Minutes
Corrections or additions to the April minutes. Motion made by Lee Buhler to accept April minutes.  Seconded by Bill Danneman.  Motion passed unanimously.
Treasury report
Checking: $3659.00
Savings: $ 1002.18
Election of SPNA officers
Nominations made in April.  Ken Love nominates Elizabeth Galbreath to treasurer, Lee Buhler seconds.
Bill Danneman nominates Ken Love for office of President, Jim Gardner seconds.
Nomination for Vice President will be put off until June meeting since Lee Moore is not present at meeting.
Lee Buhler nominates Alisa Dunlap for the office of recorder, Lee Pusch seconds.
Jim Gardner moves to accept nominations by acclimation. Lee Buhler seconds.  Motion passed unanimously and the nominations were accepted by unanimous election by acclimation.
Ken Love asks that the standing committee chairs be reappointed to same positions if there are no objections by the board. 
 Lee Buhler motioned to accept the appointments for the standing committee chairs made by Ken Love.  Bill Danneman seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.
SPNA Action Plan
Every neighborhood association must submit a yearly action plan.  Ken asked that the board take a look at the plan and opened the floor for comments.
Jim Gardner—On the first page the eighth action item is obsolete.  Tram has been built and has been adopted as city policy.  Would like to change the language of item 8 to read: Work with the City on the North Macadam transportation development strategy.
Jim Gardner- On the second page the sixth action item would like to change the language to read: Monitor the progress of construction of the Gibbs Street pedestrian bridge.
Jim Davis motioned to accept the action plan as amended.  Lew Pusch seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.
Volunteer of the Year
Ken nominated Jim Gardner for the Volunteer of the Year award, Lee Buhler seconded.
Nominations closed.  Nomination of Jim Gardner for the Volunteer of the Year award was unanimously accepted by the Board.
Expenditures
Due to Elizabeth Galbreath being the treasurer and working at Umpqua bank, Ken Love motioned to transfer the SPNA funds to Umpqua bank, Lee Buhler seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.
Concerts in park
Ken Love motioned to contribute $500 of the SPNA funds to the concert in the park event, especially since SPNA was awarded $2000 in grants with part of the grant purpose going toward the concerts.  Elizabeth Galbreath seconded.
Discussion:   Jim Gardner question, does the treasury report of $3659.00 include the money awarded by the grant?  Ken Love- Yes
No further discussion.  Motion passed unanimously.
South Portland Business Association has officially started up and Ken Love asked whether SPNA would be interested in joining.  The application fee is $50.  Lee Buhler said that as part of the grant SPNA received that they would join the South Portland Business Association. 
Jim Gardner- Is it appropriate for the SPNA to be a member of the business association?  Should we be a partner? What about potential conflicts of interest?
Phil Wikelund motioned to make a $50 donation to the South Portland Business Association.  Lee Buhler seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
Presentation from the President and wife of the Naturopathic College
The Naturopathic College in Portland is the oldest in North America.  The President and his wife are Canadian citizens who grew a college there and would like to do the same here.  The demand for natural medicine is growing.  He and his wife recently traveled to Washington DC to speak with the Oregon federal delegation about their plans for future growth.  Important to note that the Naturopathic College is accredited by the same group that accredits OHSU and other medical schools.  The college is currently a graduate school only with degrees in a limited amount of programs.  The future dream is to expand to offer undergraduate degrees in herbal medicine, psychology and nutrition.  The goal of these programs is to have practicums in the community at establishments like Outside-In (a group that helps homeless teens).  Another future goal of the college is to combine the clinic space and be able to offer more services with a larger facility.  The college is also interested in growing community involvement through community education programs and offering continuing education for naturopathic graduates as well as graduates from mainstream medical schools, like OHSU.  Other new community programs to be added are cooking classes offering instruction on healthy living, early childhood education classes and the launching of the whole life markets.  The question of fundraising is always raised; however, the money already exists for expansion. The President and his wife are not looking for monetary support but rather community support and the ability to maintain open dialogue as the college expands. One main focus of their expansion is to not compromise sustainability and livability of the area.  Overall message, is one of community involvement and support of the ideals of the community.
Standing Committee Reports
Communication Report-Lee Buhler
Dates are set for the concerts in the park. 
July 9th, July 16th, July 23rd and July 30th
The picnic will again be on National Night Out, the first Tuesday in August.  Would like to do the book sale.  Any donations can be delivered to NW bookstore or Ross Island Grocery. Any donators will be given a receipt for tax purposes.
May 21st, communications committee will be working on the mailer any help would be appreciated. 
June 14th, Lee Buhler will be leading the SW trails, trail walk.
URAC update-Jerry Ward
Funding comes from borrowing money based on future tax revenue.  The funding sources include:  Federal money, state money, general fund money, metro, trimet, Multnomah county, LIDs (local improvement districts) and Service Development Charges and Grants.  However, of all these sources much of the funding will fall on the tax payers.
The estimate is $289 million to finish all projects on the URAC list.
The major project categories are: transportation, parks and open space greenway, affordable housing and development opportunity fund.
Jim Davis noted that SPNA appealed block 49 affordable housing already due to the lack of Veteran housing as well as the cost/benefit of building the units in the proposed space.
Jim Gardner: The list presented is a wish list, not all items are going to be completed.  It would be best to come to SPNA with smaller bits of information so that SPNA can make recommendations on specific projects and help URAC understand the priorities of SPNA.
Ken agrees with Jim that not all items on the list will be done and that it is important for URAC to know SPNA’s priority issues.
Lew Pusch stated that transportation is and will remain at the top of SPNA’s priority list.
Ken Love motioned that in the SPNA July meeting that Jerry Ward come with a list of projects and the Board will prioritize them for PDC.  Bill Danneman seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.
Point of order: extend the meeting 30 minutes, Bill Danneman motion, Lee Buhler seconded. Pass unanimously.
Transportation-Bill Danneman
Attended a Portland Streetcar meeting today and noted that each of the streetcar shelters will be carved with neighborhood specific etchings.  The South Waterfront shelters have already been sponsored.
Attended a LoPAC meeting in Lake Oswego regarding light rail extension.  This project has entered the 45 day public comment period.  Again, reiterated the sentiment that it would likely be fairer if PDOT took the lead on developing the plans for light rail extension. 
May 20th Open House for the Milwaukie Light rail extension and comment on the Porter-Sherman Alignment.  The Open House will be held at the Marriott, 2115 SW River Parkway 6-8pm
May 21st, Open House on the Pedestrian bridge at the Portland building 9am on the 2nd floor.
May 19th, 519 SW 6th Avenue there will be an open comment on the following projects: I 205, Portland Mall Light rail, Columbia River Crossing, Milwaukie Light rail and Commuter Extension.
SWNI Transportation—Jim Gardner
Comment on the SWNI action plan was that the South Portland Circulation Study should be included on the plan.  Last year, Jim Gardner made this suggestion and it was not added, this year it was added. 
Update on the agreement with the Hillsdale neighborhood.  They have not acted on the agreement and neither have we (SPNA).
Schools—Jim Gardner
Nothing to report.
SWNI Board—Jim Gardner
Nothing to report.
Land Use- Jim Davis
Portland Tribune article regarding the development on the South Waterfront stated that there had been open meetings with key players; however, the neighborhood was not invited to those meetings.
Bill Danneman motioned to support the Frank Phillips project on Gibbs and 1st as long as it meets the criteria for historic design deadlines. Jim Gardner seconded.  The motion passed unanimously.
South Waterfront updates—Lew Pusch
The power outage end of April was due to construction at Mirabella.
New construction in the area has led to reduced parking.  New parking structure rumored to the European style- could be interesting.
Bambooza, Vietnamese restaurant open and very good.
Parks and Greenway—Ken Love
No restrooms in the design at the moment however, still under discussion.  The park plans are up in the Umpqua bank lobby for neighbors to look at. 

There being no further business, meeting adjourned at 9:29pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Alisa Dunlap

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South Portland Neighborhood Association
General Membership and Board Meeting
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR
DRAFT
General Membership Meeting was called to order by Chair Ken Love at 7:09pm.
Board Members Present
Ken Love (Chair), Lee Buhler, Jim Gardner, Bill Danneman, Jim Davis, Bob Stull, Lew Pusch, Lee Moore, Elizabeth Galbraith, Sylvia Bogert (SWNI), Jack Dempsey/Alisa Dunlap (Recorder)
Agenda
No corrections on the agenda for April 2nd.  Motion to approve agenda was passed unanimously.
Minutes
Motion to approve minutes from last meeting was passed unanimously.
Report from public safety
Very few crimes to report in the neighborhood.  There were no questions or concerns for the public safety officer.
Board elections
Eight positions are available and six names were listed the ballot.  Nomination to replace Jack Dempsey from OHSU on the ballot was made by Lee Buhler.  Lee Buhler nominated Alisa Dunlap also from OHSU to replace Jack Dempsey on the ballot.  Nomination was seconded and Alisa Dunlap was added as a write in on the ballot.  Other Board members on the ballot: Ken Love, Chair, Lee Moore, William Danneman, Lee Buhler, Elizabeth Galbraith and Connie Crooker.
Lee Buhler moved to close nominations and to leave the last seat for the treasurer position open until the May meeting.  Elizabeth Galbraith seconded.  This motion passed unanimously.
Ken Love moved to elect those on the ballot by affirmation.  Motion was seconded by Bill Danneman.  Motion passed unanimously.
Business for the general membership meeting agenda
Sylvia Bogert from SWNI made a few announcements. Candidates Fair Tuesday, April 29th which will include the Mayor and City Council members at 7pm.  Annual Spring Cleanup Saturday, May 10th, bring bulk waste items, electronics, re-useable items to the Portland Christian Center.  Liter patrol happens on the same day.
Lesley from the community relations department for the South Waterfront Discovery Center announced the Mayoral debate scheduled for May 10th.
Jim Davis of the land use committee announced that the standing committees are running very light on attendance.  He encouraged board members and the general members to attend the committee meetings.
Being no further business in the general member, a motion was made to adjourn.  Motion passed unanimously and the general membership meeting adjourned at 7:28pm.
Board Meeting
Board meeting was called to order by Chair Ken Love at 7:29pm.
Agenda
Additions made to the agenda: 
1)Treasurers’ report.
2)Approval of March minutes.
3)New business, Jim Gardner speaking on the possible agreement with the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association about transportation issues.
4)Introduction of new residents.

Motion to approve agenda with new additions was made by Lee Buhler.  Lew Pusch seconded.  Motion was passed unanimously.
Bill Danneman announced that on April 18th Ross Island Grocery is having a movie night and buffet style dinner.  Cost is $8.00 at the door for dinner and the movie.  The director, producer and main star of the film will be in attendance; all three are from the neighborhood.
Minutes
Motion to accept minutes without correction was made by Connie Crooker. Lee Buhler seconded.  Motion was passed unanimously. 
Introductions of new residents
Roger from Merriweather West.  Debbie from the East Tower is highly involved with the City of Milwaukie transportation and light rail issues. Peter from Merriweather West; he was very appreciative of the work that SPNA does for the group.  Nancy, wife of Peter, from Merriweather West.
Treasury report
Bob Stull gave the treasury report.  Checking account balance- $1699.82.  Savings account balance- $1002.02 savings.
Presentations
Linda Johnson a dancer and choreographer from Southwest Portland is part of a group that is encouraging artists and residents in the South Portland area to become involved with art.  She organizes a monthly series where different artists come to display their work.  The program will end in September.  The goal is to have South Portland artists and residents make a presence and reflect their community within the larger population of Portland.
Mark Smith in collaboration with his wife is working on an abstract compass/map project.  The project seeks to gather data from the community and to create an interactive map in the park which would catalogue the diversity of the group.  The project is an interactive way to explore community relationships.  In the next few weeks he will be hosting a few workshops on the weekend to gather the data.  After the data is collected he will start to build the arena and the map.  The project is free to participants and open to all the public.  The finished project will be displayed in the park for a temporary period before removal.
Announcements
April 10th Mayoral debate at Discovery Center. 
Lake Oswego to Portland Transportation Citizen Committee Letter of Support
Bill Danneman reported that the letter states support for the City of Portland (PDOT) to conduct the surveys regarding the expansion of the streetcar to Lake Oswego.  The letter encourages that PDOT take the lead, not Metro.  Bill explained that he believes PDOT would do a more objective and fair job of including the neighborhood concerns; he believes that Metro cares more about going from A to B versus the impact of those in between A and B. 
Questions:
 Lee Moore—If the idea is to have PDOT take the lead because we have more confidence in them to represent the neighborhoods, what about those neighborhoods outside of Portland, Dunthorp and Lake Oswego which will both be affect?
Bill Danneman—Recommendations were forwarded to Metro however, when the recommendations got to steering committee, Metro threw out the recommendations and wanted to go through Johns Landing only.  Many people from Portland complained; Dunthorp does not want the streetcar at all. Metro finally agreed to do a refinement study.  Refinement study would only go as far south as the Sellwood bridge.  Metro would then take the entire project; PDOT would just be doing the refinement study and making the recommendations to Metro.
Bill Danneman moved that SPNA sign onto the support letter to make PDOT the lead in the streetcar expansion project.  Lee Buhler seconded.  The motion was passed unanimously.
New Business
Jim Gardner—At Ken’s request, he’s had discussions with Hillsdale neighborhood chair, Don Baack, in attempt to resolve disagreement between the two groups about the South Portland Circulation Study. Our neighborhood has long (since the ‘70s) wanted to re-route the traffic from Ross Is. Bridge and Naito to divert the regional traffic around, instead of through, the neighborhood. The solution would narrow Naito Pkwy to one lane each way, with parking and sidewalks, and slow the speed limit; would reconnect the east/west streets, and remove the ramps at west end of the bridge. Kelly Way would carry the re-routed traffic and be the main way to get to and from the Ross Island Bridge. This recommendation went to City Council and was adopted in 2001. Hillsdale neighborhood opposed the recommendation to remove the direct on-ramp to the bridge because they didn’t like having to drive the few extra blocks to Arthur St. and then back to the bridge. Despite this opposition, City Council adopted the original plan. Since then Mr. Baack has opposed City funding for the circulation study recommendations, and this may have helped stall action on the project. Jim’s discussions with Mr. Baack produced a draft agreement (distributed to board members) in which SPNA more or less concedes to Hillsdale’s positions. This agreement went to the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association meeting in March but they didn’t do anything with it. Most of their board members are now too removed from the original disagreement to know much about it. They set up a committee to study it further. Jim G. suggests it may be time to consider an agreement ending the dispute with Hillsdale. If it will help get the project built, he doesn’t think we’re giving up too much. Quid pro quo—they won’t oppose the rest of the project going forward. The agreement is not saying that the ramp they currently have will stay…just that there will be some sort of direct connector for them. Regarding Naito itself, Hillsdale insists that the parking along the side be removed during rush hour to allow for two lanes of traffic. Jim G. thinks that yielding to this demand does not in reality harm us much, because the original study was done with Metro traffic projections for 2015, and Metro is now doing their projections based on 2030. These higher traffic numbers would probably now show that in rush hour two lanes of traffic will be necessary.
Connie Crooker—Would love to have cross streets crossing Naito. Agree with Hillsdale about the connection to the Ross Is. Bridge, to have a right turn off Naito to the bridge. Would need to have two lanes of traffic during rush hour.
Jim Davis—Would we take a position on halo LID taxes in Hillsdale? Opposes what’s being said in the agreement. What about the other neighborhoods south of here that use our streets? Does Hillsdale presume to speak for them? Objective of the original study is that we oppose being the neighborhood that everyone drives through on their way to downtown.
Bill—Have we talked to the Naturopathic College?? Want to keep them in neighborhood. What is their perspective?
Tom—City council took action, SPNA supported it. Who’s to say that other parts of the plan will not be altered?
Jim Gardner—First step is an Environmental Assessment (EA). Hopefully this will be in the Mayor’s budget for PDOT to do the study. The EA will then assess the recommendations of the study under the new conditions of today. It won’t re-open the whole study, just assess with the new data.
Ken Love—Doesn’t make much difference with what the neighborhoods say…it’s what PDOT says. The engineers will make the final decision over what will make the traffic/transportation work best.
SPNA Board Location Discussion
Ken Love reported that the Church had told him they were planning to have dinners every Wednesday and the meeting room would no longer be available to SPNA.  However, this plan fell through and the Church has said SPNA can continue to hold their meetings in at the church.  The question for discussion is do we continue to hold the board meetings at the church or do we want to move the meeting location to Umpqua bank?
Discussion                                                                                                                                                      Bill Danneman— Meeting needs to be at a central location. He said he would be amenable to switching off between the church and Umpqua. 
Lee Buhler—Good to move the meeting around might help to bring more people to the meetings.
Lee Moore—A few of his neighbors expressed that they would feel more comfortable meeting in a neutral location versus at a church.  He stressed that the meeting schedule should remain consistent for the members and also for the business owners.
Jim Gardner—Echoed the consistency message.  However, he also added that depending on the agenda items for a particular meeting it might make sense to move the meeting to an area which is most directly affected by the agenda items.
Point of order called by Ken Love.
Jim Davis—He believes that it is easier to describe the church location but also states that the bank is right off streetcar. Needs to be more centrally located. 
Tom Noguchi—As a resident of the South Waterfront area, he favors having at least some of the meetings at the waterfront. 
Lee Moore—As he understands the charter of Umpqua bank, it was built with the intent of being used as a community facility.  The church meeting room was available for use only when there was no other use in mind. According to the article written about the bank it is meant to engage the community.  Parking is free after 7pm.  Having meetings at the South Waterfront could also help to heal bad feelings about whether the building should actually be there or not.
Jim Gardner made a motion to make the church on Barbour Blvd the primary location for the South Portland Neighborhood Association meetings but that other meeting locations be included as agenda items vary.  The moving of locations would be at the Chair’s discretion.
Connie Crooker seconded the motion. 
Lee Buhler the interjected with further discussion item that it would be hard to have meetings in different places and would like the church to remain the primary location for meetings with an amendment to revisit the issue in 6 months time. 
Bill Danneman seconds the amendment. 
Jim Gardner accepts the amendment to revisit the issue of meeting location 6 months with the primary location set as the church on Barbour Blvd but discretion to change locales given to the Chair.
Lee Moore interjects with more further discussion.  Lee reiterates that the complaint about the church location came from a fellow neighbor.  The SPNA being a quasi-public body, if there is an opportunity to meet in a more neutral location, as a quasi-public body the group should choose neutrality.
Connie Crooker speaks from her legal background to say that the place the group has met on the church property is not a sanctuary space and therefore does not violate the idea of separation of church and state. The church meeting room was a former polling place for voting purposes used by the State of Oregon.
Ken Love stated that Umpqua bank is an outstanding facility and that is a very impressive set up for the community.
Bill Danneman thinks that the locale issue should be revisited in 3 months not 6.
Bryan (worker at Umpqua bank), stated that he wanted to remain neutral in the debate but would like to make a comment.  The bank charter does in fact state that the bank lobby be used as the “living room of the community.”  Bryan also notes that on the banks calendar the first Wednesday of every month for the next year has been reserved for SPNA.  He cannot guarantee that in 3 or 6 months Wednesdays will still be clear.
Jim Gardner wanted clarification of the motion.  To reiterate the motion on the table is to return to the church on Barbour Blvd as the primary location and to revisit the issue of locale in 6 months.  Also, leaving the decision up to the Chair to move the meeting if he sees a need to do so.
Vote on the motion: Aye’s Jim Davis, Jim Gardner and Lee Buhler. Nay’s Lew Pusch, Connie Crooker, Bob Stull, Elizabeth Galbraith, Bill Danneman and Alisa Dunlap.
New motion was made by Lee Buhler to alternate between Umpqua bank and the church.  No second was made.
Connie Crooker moved to make Umpqua bank the primary location, to revisit the issue in 6 months and to leave weekly moves up to the discretion of the chair.
Bill Danneman seconded the motion made by Connie.
Vote on the motion: Nays Lee Buhler, Lee Moore, Jim Davis.  Motion was passed by majority.
Meeting then proceeded to cover the rest of the agenda items, beginning with the standing committee reports.
Transportation
Bill Danneman reported on transportation issues.  He announced that on April 14th at Lincoln HS from 7-9pm there would be a streetcar system plan workshop. North Macadam development strategy meeting is May 7th. On the issue of pedestrian crossings, the next meeting will be April 9th in the Portland building.  The survey responses that have been collected by this group indicated the number one concern is safety.
Land Use
Jim Davis reported on land use.  There will be a meeting regarding the fence on 1st and Whitaker at 9pm on April 15th.  There is a project to build affordable housing on 1st/2nd streets and Gibbs.  The goal is to have a net game of 17 affordable family housing units.  The plan is to build 2 and 3 bedroom housing units.
SWNI Schools
Jim Gardner reported on the question of SUN program which is an after school program for low income kids.  The program may be losing their funding from the county due to new ways of calculating how the schools get funded.  If less than half the kids are low income the schools only get 75% of the funding they received this fiscal year, if more than half are low income they receive the same amount of funding.  SWNI is working on a letter opposing the funding cut and asking the county to continue to fully fund the schools and their programs.
SWNI Board
Jim Gardner reported that the SWNI board is asking the Portland police department to look at having a branch precinct set up in south/southwest Portland to help increase the response time for those areas.
SWNI transportation
Jim Gardner reported that the City of Portland is starting to use the neighborhood association coalitions as places to gather input on transportation issues. SWNI will be asked for their project priorities as well as recommendations for certain projects.
South Waterfront
Lew Pusch reported that there is a new Vietnamese restaurant, Bambooza, opening at the end of the John Ross building (at the opposite end of the building from where Umpqua bank is located).  There is an open house schedule from 5-7pm on Saturday; it is open to the public but the owners would prefer an RSVP.  The RSVP’s can be sent to Lesley.
Parks and Greenway
Ken Love reported that the parks and recreation department is looking for input on the park design.  He noted that Umpqua bank has a touch screen survey that everyone should participate in.  Ken also noted that not too many people supported the building of restrooms in the park but that he personally thinks they should be built.  Ken also noted that the Greenway project is still $1.8 million short.  His question to the two mayoral candidates is what they would do with the greenway project, complete as designed or not?
Communications
Lee Buhler reported that this year SPNA wants to host four concerts and picnic and that the communications department is currently reviewing bands and raising money for these events.  Communications committee would like input on flyers and help choosing the bands.  The next communications meeting is schedule for April 16th at Ross Island Grocery.  The committee will decide on bands for the concerts no later than May.
Ken Love reiterated that the next meeting would be at Umpqua bank on Wednesday, May 7th at 7pm.  In the next meeting a new treasurer would need to be nominated and voted into office.
There being no further business the board meeting adjourned at 9:29pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Alisa Dunlap

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South Portland Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting
Wednesday March 5th, 2008
Umpqua Bank
3606 SW Bond
 

Board members present: Ken Love, Elizabeth Galbraith, Bill Danneman, Lee Buhler, Bob Stull, Jennifer Daneluk, Phil Wikeland, Lee Moore

Others: Seth Schmedemann, Lee Perlman, Katie Urey, Patrick Quinton, (PDC) Adam Dunn, Diane Mason, Tom Naguchi, Brian Aisano, Ross Dormady

Chair Ken Love had everyone introduce themselves. We did not have a board quorum but Ken had the first presenter start.

Patrick Quintin from the PDC talked about the North Macadam Urban renewal district.  He handed out budget documents for the current year and several years in advance.  The current URAC budget was completed and it will be submitted to city council for approval. Lee Perlman asked about the funding drop-off in the second year and Patrick said that was an issue.  Patrick said a lot of the obligations are part of previous agreements with OHSU and developers.  He said the next process will be to figure out what to fund with additional money that will be available.  Lee Moore  asked why category 11080 (Transportation Contingency) was in the description but not in the budget.  Lee said this was very important for our neighborhood.  Patrick said this was not clear but he would check into it. It may have been there historically but changed or removed.  He said the funding sub-committee will look at the projects and re-prioritize them if possible. He handed out a draft time-line for the URAC Funding Strategy Development Committee

Bob Stull asked if the city was tied into doing the bio-sciences strategy or could those funds be used elsewhere.  Patrick said some money is locked in by agreements but there was some flexibility in other monies. Ken asked about whether and when PDC will turn over the greenway to Parks.  Patrick said there is no agreement at this point but they would like to see parks involved and that would be decided in the future. Ken said he thought PDC would do a better job than Parks.  Bill Danneman asked if some of the other renewal districts that are up for renewal will be renewed.  Patrick said he did not know but in his opinion at least some will.

Lee Moore said the small business incubator does not appear to be feasible on this side of the river and asked why there was so much money (59 mil.) was in the budget.  Patrick agreed and said that issue will be re-visited. He said this money is not locked in so may very well be changed.  Ken said even OHSU agrees with this position.  Jerry Ward said he made a motion on the URAC board on this issue and they voted not to change the focus and he was glad the issue is back on discussion.  Lee M. said he is worried that the character of the incentive jobs do not match the jobs that will be in the area.

Jerry asked for discussion time at the next SPNA board meeting to discuss the URAC committee

During the PDC presentation enough board members arrived for a quorum so Ken officially called the meeting to order at 7:56

Lee Buhler made a motion to approve the agenda and Bob Stull seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously

Bob Stull gave the treasurer's report.  We have $1699.82 in our checking account and $1002.10 in our savings account.  Ken has received the check for our grant ($1970.00) and that will be included in next month' report.

Ken said the French School has asked for our support to add a middle school.  Bill said he had talked to Jan Kelly and they would not object if some landscaping was added to make the new structure look better.  Also, the neighbors would like them to stagger the starting times.  Lee M. said the new portable building will go in the existing playground.  He worried that the facilities are not ADA compliant.  Lee P. asked about enrollment and Lee M said it would go up to 335. Motion Lee B. SPNA supports the French School expansion with the contingency that landscaping be added to improve the appearance of the new structure and the French School do what they can to reduce traffic impact.  Second Bill Danneman.  Jerry asked if immediate neighbors were notified so they could make their opinions known. Lee M. said notice was sent out and it was before the land use committee and this meeting.  Ken said people would have other chances to give input with the city. The motion passed unanimously.

Ken said Mike Houk of the Audubon Society of Portland had asked our support for a mural on the Portland Mausoleum of a Blue Heron.
Motion, Bob Stull: “The South Portland Neighborhood Association supports the completion of the mural on the Portland Mausoleum overlooking Oaks bottom”
Bill Danneman seconded the motion.

Tom asked if the mural was appropriate to the area and Lee M and Bob said they thought it was.  The motion passed unanimously. 

Ken Love presented an update on  the South Portland Business Association.  It has been going real well due to the hard work of several people.  It will be up and running by next month. Jennifer said this neighborhood was one of the last in Portland to form a business association and it will be very good for the neighborhood as it give us an identity and allows us to apply for grants not otherwise available.

Tom Naguchi gave a report on the South Waterfront area. The will be a symphony concert on Wednesday, March 26th from 6-8pm at the discovery center.  Also, at the discovery center there will be a light rail presentation on Thursday, March 22nd.

Bill Danneman made a motion to approve the February minutes.  Lee Moore seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
 
Lee Buhler gave the communications report.  We have been working on the summer concert/picnic series.  The committee has received many suggestion on bands and has been working to narrow the list down.  The committee has also been working on the mailer to be sent out to the entire neighborhood.  He read a list of possible articles for the newsletter and asked that people think of other ideas for the mailer.  At the communications committee we discussed making a map of the neighborhood and neighborhood businesses and use it to raise a little more money so that the mailer could be printed in color.  Elizabeth said that idea has also been discussed at the business association and we should work with them on it.

Bill Danneman gave the transportation committee report.  He attended a streetcar meeting and learned the City has raised its portion of the money.  However, the federal portion of the funding is being held up as the city needs to justify the need for the streetcar better before the funds are released. Bill said the Corbett traffic calming project has started construction with preliminary surveying. There will be a meeting on the Pedestrian Bridge on March 19th at 9:30am at the Portland Building.  The city is negotiating a design contract with CH2M Hill.  Bill said he has gotten a few comments on the crosswalks on Barbur and Naito and the major concern is safety. Ken and Jim Gardner had talked to Commissioner Sam Adams about the South Portland Circulation Project funding but as of today PDOT says it is unfunded.

Bill Danneman gave the Land use report.  There is a fence on 1st and Whitaker we are appealing and the hearing is on April 1st.  Frank Phillips showed his proposals for 1st and Gibbs at the last land use meeting. Bill said Frank did a good job and the project is very sensitive to the surrounding neighborhood.  They were are also considering moving the historic Morris Marks house to one of the parcels.

Officer Ross Dormady  talked about crime statistics for last month in South Portland. Ken asked about the larceny numbers and Ross said there was a lot in the Johns Landing. He said people were leaving their doors unlocked too much and leaving valuables in their cars.   

Ken gave Parks report.  They are still trying to work our the budget.  They are considering cutting the dock and Ken is trying to get them to include everything.

Ken said the South Portland Circulation Project was not put in the budget but it is not completely dead and it can be added to the mayor’s budget.  Ken and Jim Gardner will try with the mayor.

Lee Moore asked about parking meters in Willamette Park. Ken said that is suppose to happen but he did not know when.  Lee M. said Commissioner Sam Adams said anytime they put meters in a neighborhood they would come to the neighborhood and this should be considered in this case. Lee M. said we are the only park that charges and it should be uniform as Cathedral Park does not charge as well as Swan Island and those are just as busy.  He said the money should be used for the neighborhood and it is not. He also said people coming in just before the fee ends are being charged the full rate.

Katie had some bumper stickers for walkers “I Brake for People” and handed those out.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00

Respectfully submitted:

Lee Buhler

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South Portland Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
Tabernacle 7th Day Adventist Church, 026 S.W. Condor Avenue, Portland

The meeting was called to order at 7:01

Board members present: Ken Love, Connie Crocker, Elizabeth Galbraith, Lew Pusch, Lee Moore, Bill Danneman, Jim Davis, Audrey Seto, Jennifer Daneluk, Lee Buhler, Bob Stull, Jim Gardner

Others: Katie Urey, Justin Norman, Lee Perlman, Jan Schweitzer, Denny Schweitzer, Jody Yates, Amy Gibbons, Mauricio Leden, Matt Burlin

Chair Ken Love had everyone introduce themselves.

Bill Danneman moved that the agenda be accepted. Jim Gardner seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Bob Stull moved that the January minutes be approved with amendments suggested and circulated via email by Jim Gardner.  Lee Buhler seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Officer Ross Dormady said the crime statistics for South Portland were lower with every category showing a decrease.  Ross said he wanted to hear any concerns for public safety. Someone mentioned a problem house near the Ross Island Grocery and there was a stabbing in the neighborhood.  Jim Gardner said someone dropped a lot of trash by his house.  Ross said the police bureau wanted community feedback on the officer re-districting plan they are working on. Connie asked if the crime rate went down because of winter and Ross said that was a part of the decrease.

Treasurer Bob Stull said we had $1001.94 in our savings account and $1699.82 in our checking account. Jim Gardner asked if our State Corporation fee was being paid and Ken Love said SWNI has done that.

Ken Love said tomorrow night there would be a South Macadam merchants party at the Umpqua bank to show their wares.  Ken said our Business association is making progress and there has been a tremendous response.  Ken said our March meeting would be held at the Umpua bank in South Waterfront.

Ken Love said the church were we meet has requested that we not meet there until 7:30pm.  Ken said it was not clear whether this is for one meeting or all meetings and he would find out.  He said it would not matter for this March because we plan to meet at the Umpqua bank. Bill Danneman said we could also change from the first Wednesday of the month to another week day.



Jody Yates, from the Portland Office of Transportation and Amy Gibbons from the Oregon  Department of Transportation made a presentation on the I-5 ramp northbound to North Macadam. They have prepared a PowerPoint presentation and we were the first group they had shown it to.. Jody said she wanted to come to us first since we will be impacted more.  Jody said there are two main groups of people using the ramp; people going to South Waterfront and people going to southeast Portland via the Ross Island bridge.   The ramp is working OK now  however, they are expecting growth that would make the ramp fail if nothing is done.  If the ramp is not improved, traffic will back up onto I-5 and this is unacceptable.   Right now 10% of the cars using the ramp go off at Bancroft and they expect that to increase to about 25% in a few years. 

Jody said the Corbett exit fails in the evening.  Amy said there was a safety issue on Macadam and  Gaines  with the weaving of traffic.  Lee Moore said a lot of people who want to go south on I-5 use Barbur. Jody said the Portland area will grow and especially South Waterfront and this will impact traffic on I-5.  It will be much cheaper to fix the problem now.

The options are: 1 Do nothing which they say is a bad option because the ramp will fail with backup on the ramp. Since ODOT will not allow that, they will change signals on Macadam which will shift problems to Macadam.  2: Add another ramp.  They decided  it would not work because there was not enough room for another ramp.  Lee M said the Corbett off-ramp is currently  a problem and that should be considered in this process.  Amy said the Corbett off-ramp was not a good idea to begin with because a freeway exit should not go to a neighborhood street instead of a collector.  3: The third option is to remove South waterfront right turners but this would not work because many people will need it that access.  4: Flip I-5 Ross Island ramp. They said this is too expensive and does not solve problems. 5:  Have a ramp “flyover” Macadam to take people to the Ross Island bridge. It would start 2000ft back.. This is still under consideration 6:Tunnel under Macadam to Curry Street.  The tunnel would then come out at Moody and the Ross Island traffic would continue and merge with Macadam.  These are expensive options. The first guess is about $40 mil each. However, there is some money available. But there still is a funding gap of #12 mil. Amy said the engineers are trying to reduce the cost to reduce the gap.  They said the current schedule would include design and development from now until 2010.  Construction would start in 2010 with completion in about 2 years.
Jody said they are trying to get a lot of public feedback.  Connie Crooker said the flyover makes the most intuitive sense and the tunnel option would probably work too.  Jim G. asked  about expansion in 2035 and if this ramp be made bigger. Amy said the best solution at that point would be a ramp directly to the Ross island bridge but that comes with a new bridge.  Amy said there was just not enough room to expand much more.

Matt from the Bureau of Environmental Services talked about the Stephens Creek habitat enhancement project. Matt said it was a valuable resource for fish habitat as salmon need a safe place to rest. BES has been looking at this for about a year. There is a decommissioned sewer pipe that is inhibiting fish habitat which would be removed.  Bob Stull asked if fish could make it to the upper level of Stephen's creek.  Matt said he would really like to see that but it is way too expensive for this project. Matt said they had received many of the permits needed but they needed some more from the federal government.  Some soil on south side of the creek will be moved to north to regrade that side and this will create additional habitat on the south side.  Construction will impact the greenway trail. There will also be a partial a lane closure on Macadam.  Matt hopes people understand the finished project will be well worth the disruption. The main problem there are working is getting bicycles through during construction.  Jim G. asked how much tree canopy will be removed and Matt said there will be a lot but there will be a lot of new trees planted.   Lee Perlman asked about the reaction of Macadam Bay Moorage and Matt said they have been very supportive. Ken said there have been deer, otter and lots of birds in the area.  Matt said he would like to give plenty of out-reach and expects to come back.

Maureco, from the Portland Office of Transportation  talked about the light rail to Milwaukie project.  They are projecting an opening date in 2015.  He described the stops on the way to Milwaukie.  There will be several park and rides.   In 2003 there was a recommendation to have the line cross by the Marquam bridge. Now they are considering other crossing options due to the growth at South Waterfront and the goal of high percentage of transit users.  They are looking at several crossing options in South Waterfront and the pros and cons of each are complicated.  The bridge will also be used for the streetcar and buses.  OHSU does not want the streetcar to impact its planned campus but OMSI wants a streetcar station and that makes for a  long bridge which is very costly.  Maurecio said this was  a very expensive project.  Lee Moore said the most expensive part of the project is the bridge and why not just continue light rail to the Lloyd center and use the existing bridge. Mareco said the money is out there and we should get our share.  Lee M. said this money could be used better. Mauriceo said there were limitations with streetcar and light rail makes sense on this route because of the great growth expected regionally in that area.  Lee Perlman asked about ridership statistics Jim Davis said that the projections of growth for the far southeast area may be too much and most growth will occur in Clark county and asked what if ridership projections are not met. Mauriceo said metro has been very accurate with ridership projections so far. Elizabeth asked if there would be a pedestrian and bike connection and Mariceo said yes.  The url for the project is: www.metro-region.org/southcorridor Mariceo said there will be many opportunities for public input. They are expecting a decision on the crossing alignment this summer. Jim Gardner asked about how buses that service our neighborhood now would get downtown. Mariceo said there are other some other buses people can use.  However, Marico said we could have a reduction in service.

Jim Gardner talked about the crosswalks on Barbur and Naito. Gibbs has always been thought as the pedestrian corridor and Gibbs has some very good views.  PDOT did a walk through and did drawings placing the crosswalks on Whitaker. Jim said we should take a position on the crossing street.  Jim said Gibbs has  a some very good views. Bill Danneman said the neighborhood has always preferred Gibbs. Jim G. said we have never taken an official position.

Motion Bill Danneman:  Extend meeting 20 minutes.  Lee Buhler seconded the motion.
Aye: Elizabeth Galbraith, Lew Pusch, Lee Moore, Bill Danneman, Jim Davis, Audrey Seto, Jennifer Daneluk, Lee Buhler, Jim Gardner. No: Bob Stull
 
Lee B. said he was concerned that if a crosswalk was put on Natio the way it was this would not be safe because of the curve from the Ross Island bridge leading to Gibbs.  Jennifer Daneluk said she felt the Whitaker crossing is much safer.  Jim G. said if the Naito crossing was at Gibbs it would necessitate a light and speed bumps.
Ken asked all board members to visit the area and take a look at the crossing options so we can make a decision in the next few months.
 
Transportation: Bill Danneman said the federal government is withholding grant money for the east side streetcar because city has not proved it has complied with the grant.

Land Use: Jim Davis said we lost our appeal on the affordable housing project in South waterfront.  He said there is a lot of development just north of our neighborhood and TriMet is trying to tear down a historic house.  He is also concerned on the impact this development will have on our neighborhood. The building at 1975 SW 5th will loose affordable housing.  He is also concerned about the veterans housing project in South Waterfront because the units will be so small and not family friendly.

Jim Gardner reported on the SWNI board There was a conflict on funding for some transportation projects The choices were either another pedestrian crossing on Barbur or pedestrian and  bicycle improvements on Vermont.  SWNI choose the Vermont project.  Jim G. said on paper the Vermont project might look better.  Jim D. said the Portland French school will be doubling there enrollment by adding middle school.

Lew Pusch reported on happenings in South Waterfront.  The artist in residence program will feature Tibetian monks doing sand artwork.  This is held on the first Saturday of the month. Lee Moore said there was no posted speed limit on Moody and people are driving too fast.
 
Ken asked everyone to look at Jerry Ward’s comment on URAC.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:18

Respectfully submitted:

Lee Buhler

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South Portland Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008
Tabernacle 7th Day Adventist Church, 026 S.W. Condor Avenue, Portland

DRAFT

Ken Love opened the meeting at 7:06pm.

Board Members Present
Ken Love (Chair), Lee Buhler, Jim Gardner, Bill Danneman, Jim Davis, Michelle Giguere,
Connie Crooker, Elizabeth Galbreath, Jack Dempsey (Recorder)

Agenda
The January 2nd agenda was adopted, passed unanimously.

Minutes
The December 5th minutes were adopted with changes, passed unanimously.

Presentation
Mark Williams, OHSU Associate Vice President of Campus Planning, Development and Real Estate, presented OHSU’s planning for the Schnitzer Campus.  OHSU hired Perkins and Will to develop six campus versions and street grid alignments.  After much work the options were narrowed to two:  the first called “the grid” matched the city’s original street grid alignment with streets running perpendicular to the river, the second called “the cross stitch” canted the streets to match the southern portion of the South Waterfront.  OHSU continued their commitment to sustainability and hired a consultant to review the plans and provide input.  Their sustainability analysis suggested using “the grid” design to protect view corridors, lower building heights to maximize solar collection, preserve the greenway setbacks and provide more open spaces, and reduce the overall program by about 30%.  Questions raised about view corridors widths and locations, community development planning, the grade height which will mostly likely be raised and associated costs, habitat restoration along the river, street sizes, and partnerships needed to complete the development.
 
Treasurers Report

Announcements
The neighborhood association will have a representative on the North Macadam lightrail committee. 

City Commissioner Sam Adams has a proposal to fund the South Portland Circulation Study, now called the South Portland Improvement Project, with $200,000 in one time surplus funds.  A hearing on the proposal will most likely occur in February. 

The design review committee has sent notices out on the pedestrian bridge and will have a hearing on January 9th. 

Portland Police have captured a local vandal that lives in the neighborhood and is suspected of the recent tire slashings.

Discussion about the North Macadam URAC motion made during the December meeting that emphasizes more funding for transportation and open spaces and less for economic development, and concerns that the neighborhood URAC representative Jerry Ward might have broadly interpreted the neighborhood’s intentions with the PDC.  

Motion to made that Ken Love remind neighborhood representative Jerry Ward what is authorized to discuss at the North Macadam URAC meeting, passed with two opposed (Danneman, Davis)

Motion made to discontinue the neighborhood association’s post office box, passed unanimously.

Discussion about the South Portland Improvement Project meetings with the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association president Don Baack and their intention to write an agreement between the neighborhoods which has yet to be received. 

ONI will begin creating a database of South Portland businesses that the neighborhood can use to distribute flyers about the creation of a business association.  Also, there will be a business fair on the first Thursday in February from 5:30-7:00pm at Umpqua Bank featuring 30 local merchants.  

As Vice President of SWNI, Ken Love is asking for suggestions for their oncoming retreat.

Transportation
Bill Danneman reported that the next Streetcar meeting will be January 9th, and the next South Waterfront transportation committee will be January 9th. 

Land Use
Jim Davis reported that the $56k for appeal is not needed and that city employees tried to talk him out of filing.  Also, the block 49 appeal will be before the design commission soon as there is some confusion about whether it’s under central city parking lot code or building code.  The block 41 project is currently at design review where the neighborhood can encourage better design.  On the Portland Planning Commission upcoming agenda there is an item regarding the vacation of Naito Parkway, more information is being requested.  

SWNI
Jim Gardner reported that the Schools Committee did not meet during December; at the January meeting Portland Association of Teachers president will discuss the problem of teacher assignments occurring late in the calendar. 

The Transportation Committee discussed the Halo LID proposal to construct more sidewalks in SW, however these projects don’t effect SPNA.  Also discussed was Commissioner Adams Street Maintenance proposal with the committee and the SWNI board not taking a position to support or oppose.  The group subsequently met with Commissioner Adams at his request to explain their position.  A hearing before city council on the proposal will be on January 9th at 2:00pm.

South Waterfront
Residents are raising private donations for a trust fund to fund a boat dock since this project is low on the city’s list of priorities for the South Waterfront.  They are also talking with the school district and URAC to promote the establishment of a preschool in the area.


Parks and Greenway
Ken Love reported that SPNA will only have one representative on both the South Waterfront parks and greenway committees, not one on each.  Ken was recommended for the parks committee, despite Commissioner Saltzman agreeing on SPNA representation on both committees.  Saltzman commented that he doesn’t micromanage the Parks Bureau.  Jim Davis agreed to discuss the issue further with Saltzman.  The greenway project currently has $3.5m left of the original $6m for construction, including a small dock, pavilion, bird blinds and a bird watching area.  Surveys taken by Ken at the Ross Island Grocery suggest the dock isn’t a high priority for residents for funding.  The park project currently has $2.8m left of its original $4m for construction. 

An anonymous donor has agreed to install a basketball hoop at Slavin Court with construction starting soon. 

Communications
Lee Buhler reported that grant funds are in and planning has begun on neighborhood mailings, summer concert series and the initial meeting of a local business association.  The next communication committee will be the third Wednesday of the month. 

There being no further business, the meeting concluded at 9:46pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Jack Dempsey

South Portland Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting
Wednesday, December 5th, 2007
Tabernacle 7th Day Adventist Church, 026 S.W. Condor Avenue, Portland

APPROVED

Ken Love opened the meeting at 7:03pm.

Board Members Present
Ken Love (Chair), Lee Moore, Jennifer Daneluk, Lee Buhler, Jim Gardner, Bill Danneman, Jim Davis,
Audrey Seto, Michelle Giguere, Connie Crooker, Lew Pusch, Jack Dempsey (Recorder)

Agenda
The December 5th agenda was adopted with three changes, passed unanimously.

Minutes
The November 7th minutes were adopted, passed unanimously.

Announcements
The neighborhood association is currently short one board member and Umpqua Bank representative Elizabeth Galberth has agreed to serve and partner to help start the South Portland business association.

Motion made to nominate Elizabeth Galbreath to the South Portland Neighborhood Association Board, passed unanimously.

Lake Oswego to Portland Streetcar/Trail Presentation
Portland Office of Transportation representatives Steve Iwata and Mauiricio Leclerc presented the Transit Alternatives Analysis Steering Committee recommendations for extending the Portland Streetcar line to Lake Oswego.  The streetcar option with trail was adopted over the bus rapid transit option.  Extending the streetcar line to Lake Oswego with a terminus at Albertsons or stopping at the Sellwood Bridge are both options being studied.  In addition, the Willamette Shore Line right of way and the Macadam alignments are both recommended for further study.  Concerns were expressed regarding the extension to only the Sellwood Bridge creating more park-n-ride commuters at Willamette Park and the limited number generally that would utilize this terminus.  Parking meters at Willamette Park will be installed replacing the gate fee, thus park-n-ride will be discouraged.  Additional concerns involved the increased costs of additional studies and right of way acquisitions along the Willamette Shore Line alignment.   Metro will be hearing the recommendations Tuesday and Thursday of this week. 

Motion that the South Portland Neighborhood Association supports the recommendation of a refinement study by an independent consultant for the Lake Oswego to Portland Streetcar and Trail analysis in the northern section between SW Lowell and the Sellwood Bridge, with the recognition that this is one part of a complete line to Lake Oswego, passed 7-2 (Gardner, Moore).





Metro Councilor Robert Liberty
Discussion with Metro Councilor Robert Liberty on regional growth and transit projects, including Metro’s history and planning efforts since 1994.  Discussion of the regional transportation plan project list being submitted for Federal funding.  Discussion of the need to be able to compare projects on the list with a standardized set of measurements to determine what we are getting for the money.  Currently projects are selected by the city with no clear criteria.  The project list online shows all projects left off the final list.  Discussion about Metro utilizing more authority to connect all regional transportation and land use projects under a common entity, as land use and transportation planning are essentially the same thing.  Moving to a system focus and not a project focus since money for projects is scarcer and the infrastructure needs are great.  The willingness to experiment with funding options must be accepted.

South Portland Circulation Study
Ken Love reported that he is in discussions with Don Baack, president of the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association to resolve differences in the South Portland Circulation Plan so a unified effort can be made to the city.  Solutions might include narrowing Naito Parkway and moving some traffic to Kelly to create a more direct route over the Ross Island Bridge. 

Neighborhood Construction
Lee Moore and a local resident reported on a residential construction project near south Corbett where the builder has changed the onsite grade by adding 12 feet to create a total project height off over 40 feet.  The new home would block existing views and shadelines for surrounding neighbors.  Lee is asking the neighborhood to form a work group to study the issue and see if updates to the city code are needed. 

Motion made to extend neighborhood association meeting until 9:35pm, passed unanimously.

North Macadam URAC
Jerry Ward reported on the North Macadam URAC budget, noting shortfalls and the unsustainable spending for projects.  Some projects have no funding amounts and others are over budget, thus not enough funding exists in the current budget.  Transportation should be the biggest issue with no more funds going towards economic accelerators and non-infrastructure projects.  

Motion made that the North Macadam URAC equally invest in transportation, open spaces and parks; and substantially less on economic development, passed unanimously.

Crime
Portland Police officer reported on 50 tire slashing on Macadam that occurred on multiple evenings last week.  

Transportation
Bill Danneman reported that the next Portland Streetcar meeting will be January 9th.  Also, the pedestrian bridge committee is being formed with the inclusion of six neighborhood representatives

Motion made that the South Portland Neighborhood Association supports a pedestrian bridge design that leaves money for the South Portland Circulation Study, passed unanimously.



Ken Love reported that he has been appointed to represent the neighborhood on the Milwaukie Lightrail bridge crossing committee and that they will have an open house on December 20th

Portland City Council will address traffic calming on Corbett on December 12th at 10:00am.

Land Use
Jim Davis reported that the block 49 project will be before the design commission tomorrow at 1:00pm.  The project on 1st and Gibbs will be coming off the shelf. 

Schools/SWNI
Jim Gardner reported that the SWNI Schools Committee heard a presentation from a charter school that has recently located in Johns Landings.  The Southwest trails group has been exploring bike blvd options in the area, with the Corbett south to downtown route being recommended to the city; however the project was moved to the second tier group for funding in 6-10 years instead of 1-5 years.  An open house on the bike boulevards project will occur tomorrow evening from 6:00-8:00pm at the Multnomah Center.

Crime Prevention
Lee Buhler reported that discussions underway to locate a police precinct in South Portland.

South Waterfront
There will be a discussion about the neighborhood park RFP on Tuesday from 3:30-5:30pm.

Communications
Lee Buhler reported that the neighborhood has yet to receive the ONI grant.

New Business
Ken Love suggested that the neighborhood vacate the post office box.  A motion was made to vacate the post office box, however no action was taken. 

There being no further business, the meeting concluded at 9:35pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Jack Dempsey

South Portland Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
Tabernacle 7th Day Adventist Church, 026 S.W. Condor Avenue, Portland

APPROVED

Ken Love opened the meeting at 7:06pm.

Board Members Present
Ken Love (Chair), Jennifer Daneluk, Lee Buhler, Jim Gardner, Bill Danneman, Jim Davis, Audrey Seto, Jack Dempsey (Recorder)

PDOT Presentation
Portland Office of Transportation representatives presented the Corbett Traffic Claming Project proposed design that will go before city council on December 12th at 9:30am.  Goals of the project include enhancing livability, ensuring ease of movement and balancing the needs of all transportation modes.  The project includes wayfinding signage, speed tables, crosswalks, median islands, and curb extensions.  The planning process began in July 2007, with design and engineering scheduled for winter of 2007-2008 and construction starting July 2008.

Ken Love officially opened the meeting at 7:30pm.

Agenda
The November 7th agenda was adopted with two changes, passed unanimously.

Minutes
The October 3rd minutes were adopted, passed unanimously.

Motion made to approve the Corbett Traffic Calming Project as presented and recommend that any remaining funds be used to add curbs and enhance landscaping; and that a letter of support be sent to City Commissioner Sam Adams and the Portland City Council, passed unanimously.

Announcements
Jack Dempsey announced the breakfast meeting with OHSU President Joe Robertson and the Homestead Neighborhood Association scheduled for November 14th at 7:00am in the OHSU Auditorium.

Portland Police Bureau Southwest evening officer reported on the capture of two car prowlers and business burglaries in the Southwest area.  Neighbors are encouraged to call the police non-emergency line at (503) 823-3333 if they see anything unusual.

Ken Love reported that he is still working with ONI on the establishment of a South Portland Business Association.

Transportation
Bill Danneman reported on the streetcar steering committee recommendation and open house scheduled for November 13th from 4:30-7:00pm at Lincoln High School.  The recommendation will go before the planning commission of December 11th and Metro on December 13th.  More details will be presented at the December neighborhood meeting.  The lightrail crossing committee still needs the inclusion of neighborhood representatives.  The first meeting of the North Macadam SAC met to discuss the North and South traffic portals and river crossing in the South Waterfront.

Land Use
Jim Davis reported on block 49 in the South Waterfront and a meeting with City Commissioners Leonard and Sten to brief them on the building plan which does not meet the design criteria and limits tax increment financing.  The six story building lot is zoned for 250’ and will include 206 affordable housing units with no family affordable housing.  In addition, the building is regrettable in design.  Design commission decision is scheduled for November 15th at 1:30pm.  Discussion was had on whether all buildings in the South Waterfront should be maximized in size and if Commissioner Sten’s proposal to use 11 units as temporary housing for veterans seeking care at the Veteran’s Hospital should be allowed.

Jim Davis also presented replicas of old Portland street maps that he is selling and donating funds to the neighborhood’s account.

Motion made to (prospectively) appeal the approval by the design commission of the Block 49 design based on the lack of environmental certification, lack of architectural appeal, and lack of family sized affordable housing, passed unanimously.

SWNI
Jim Gardner reported that the SWNI Schools Committee is reviewing the timeline PPS uses to assign existing teachers that could be delaying the process and therefore losing new applicants.

Jim Gardner also reported that the SWNI Transportation Committee received a briefing on Commissioner Adams’ proposal to fund city transportation projects through an increased gas tax and street maintenance fee on households and businesses that includes green discounts and sliding rates.  The committee is also reviewing Metro’s regional transportation plan, which needs the inclusion of more SW projects, particularly the South Portland Circulation Study.  Commissioners Hosticka and Liberty are supportive, however the city needs to reprioritize the list to include the study.  Commissioner Adams’ office has been contacted.

South Waterfront
Tom Noguchi reported on the Artist in Residence project at the South Waterfront that allows artists to exhibit their work.  He also reported that the Atwater is in the final stages of construction and should allow residents later this year.

Parks and Greenspaces
Ken Love reported on the Parks Bureau plan to establish two committees on the Greenway and Parks at the South Waterfront and the inclusion of neighborhood representatives.  Commissioner Saltzman and the bureau director have been contacted.  Thirty firms have applied to design the greenway, eleven are submitting credentials, and three will be selected to submit proposals.

Ken also reported that the Parks Bureau is proposing an increase in system development charges (SDC) to recover more funds for parks.  Portland ranks 12 out of the 14 largest cities in the nation for the lowest SDCs.

Motion made to extend meeting an addition 10 minutes, passed unanimously.

Communications
Lee Buhler reported that the neighborhood grant proposal was submitted to ONI.  Dollars from the grant will be used for one or two neighborhood mailers and can include advertising from local businesses.  Interesting articles are needed from neighbors for the mailer.  Also, a new neighborhood board email extension is now available: @southportlandna.org.

There being no further business, the meeting concluded at 9:10pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Jack Dempsey

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