Draft Minutes Center Neighborhood Association Monthly Meeting
March 20, 2007 7:00 P.M. @ The Shogren House Museum
INRODUCTIONS:
Board Members Present: Robert Jordan, Shirley Nacoste, Judy Kennedy, Barry Bradie, Don McElmurry, Marsha Hahn, Sean Besso, DyLynn Robertson
Neighbors & Guests: Susan Ferguson, J.P. Telts (Burnside Business owners), Ms. Vollmeyer, Ken Moholt-Seibert (Developer), Lee Perlman (Press)
ACTIONS:
Approved minutes from the February 2007 meeting. (All votes in favor with typos corrected).
Approved motion to write letter in support of Ken Moholt-Seibert’s request for an adjustment to the height requirement on the Laurelview development site. (All votes in favor).
Approved motion to donate $500.00 to Sullivan’s Gulch Trail project. (All votes in favor)
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Next C.N.A. General Meeting will be held on May 15, 2007. May will be Center Board Elections time and officers will be nominated in June. We will plan to have tables with information about C.N.A. committees and projects of interest to residents. Conversations continue about a “Board Retreat” in June, after the elections.
Feedback on the changes in the C.N.A. bylaws need to be directed to Robert ASAP as these will be voted on at the General Meeting in May. Judy reminded us that we need to post the changes in the bylaws for the residents of the neighborhood to review. These will be posted on the Neighborhood Link website with a link noted in the upcoming C.N.A. newsletter.
Neighborhood Clean-Up will be held on May 19th, the Saturday following the General Meeting. Sean will follow-up with details.
Robert has met with the incoming-Chair of Laurelhurst Neighborhood Association, which is supportive of the Sullivan’s Gulch Trail project. The City Parks Departments has a budget/account that will allow Federal monies to match local donations and leveraged funds. Roberts asks if C.N.A. would like to contribute to this project as other neighborhood associations in the vicinity of the proposed trail have done.
Discussions of a new meeting location after the General Meeting continue and suggestions such as e-mailing “contacts” about meeting site, using a phone tree and gathering e-mail info on the sign-in sheets were made. Sean will talk to Shellie at S.E. Precinct re: using meeting room there.
NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS:
Susan Ferguson and J.P. Telts have the 5605/5635 buildings on East Burnside and have had several break-ins and an assault. The aggressors are youth who live nearby and are known to police. Susan stated they have had somewhat ineffective help from the police. She inquired about whom to work with for further support such as increased lighting. Susan stated she would work with the city on this issue.
A neighbor (Ms. Vollmeyer) brought her concerns about the need for improved/increased traffic signage on 47th and Davis where there is a dead-end and a lot of traffic trying to reach Providence gets ‘lost” on the way…she mentioned increased traffic and safety concerns. Lee Perlman suggested contacting Sam Adams office and inquiring about the process to develop a “Local Improvement District” in that area.
COMMITTEES:
Treasurer: $1,587 checking and $5398 in the money market account. May be outstanding checks from donations to Grant High School programs.
Land Use & Transportation: Several meetings with neighbors and Ken Moholt-Seibert and have taken place recently regarding the Laurelview development on the corner of N.E. 47th and Burnside. Most recent is discussion of request for an adjustment in the height code. In addition, the County is considering the building adjacent to the S.E. Precinct as “surplus” and the City could purchase it this year. There was general consensus that Mr. Moholt-Seibert’s interactions and involvement with the neighbors has been much better than typical for developers and we hope to continue in this vein with future planning.
Sean also attended the SEUL Land Use meeting and mentioned several issues of concerns for other neighborhoods within the Coalition’s boundaries. The types of things being discussed include: relocating an enclosed dog use area at Laurelhurst Park; bicycle parking along the street in Sunnyside Neighborhood; updates on the City wide bike plan; Powell Blvd. projects; and the Sellwood Bridge design concepts that are in the works. More info on the latter can be found at www.sellwoodbridge.org.
Providence Standing Committee: Judy reported that at the March 6th Neighborhood Meeting sponsored by Portland Providence Medical Center, project architects and facility manager, Lisa Vance discussed the progression of the new cancer treatment center. At this time the project is nearly 63% complete and they anticipate the huge crane to be removed in June. The entire project has a projected completion time in late Spring 2008. Other discussions included the refurbishing of the Oregon Clinic; renovations of the Moore Litho building with retail & guest housing (they will need to do fundraising before this project starts); and building on the lots at 53rd & N.E. Glisan (two years out). Neighbors also brought their concerns about traffic and pedestrian safety around the Providence areas. Also of note was that SEIU is putting forth efforts to organize workers at Providence and will hold a rally in the area on March 21.
SEUL Liaison: Shirley reports that SEUL is asking for letters in support of the ONI budget by March 30.
City Council will present their budget proposal for the Portland on April 17. SEUL is also asking Neighborhood Associations (and neighbors) to submit comments about what we would like to see regarding our City’s and neighborhood’s transit, leadership and development plans. This is part of SEUL’s strategic planning efforts. All SEUL committees are in “hiatus” while this data collecting takes place. Comments can be submitted through www.southeastuplift.org
Several training opportunities are being offered through SEUL and ONI this Spring and info can be found at the SEUL website or at ONI pages on www.portlandonline.com. Workshops include topics such as “e-newsletters” and problem solving with neighbors and creating welcoming environments in neighborhood associations.
Connections/Outreach: Met on March 5 and discussed a Center Commons “Rejuvenation Project” as well as Rosemont Bluff Grant info.
Rosemont Bluff Grant Info: The deadline for the Community Watershed grant is April 5. Robert asked for help working on this and has received input from others in the community about this type of grant.
Newsletter: Deadline for submissions is April 6th. DyLynn will contact City Print & Distribution service for a quote on 6-8 page newsletters. May be possible to coordinate printing of door hangers for Clean-Up with this printing project – as well as the hand delivery of both.
Annual Clean-Up: Scheduled for May 19 in the “usual place” on Glisan at N.E. 53rd. Contact Sean to volunteer.
Meeting Adjourned at 8:57 p.m.
Notes submitted by DyLynn Robertson, C.N.A. Secretary
April 15, 2007