2008 July 15 meeting minutes

These are our minutes from our July 15, 2008 meeting.  We asked for corrections and approval of these minutes at our Tuesday, September 16, 2008 meeting where they were unanimously approved.

2008 March 4 Meeting

Please click on the attachment for our meeting minutes for March 4, 2008.

2008 May 13 Meeting Minutes

Click on the link to read the minutes to our May 13, 2008 neighborhood meeting.

2008 November 18 Meeting Minutes

Click on the link below for a copy of our November 18, 2008 meeting minutes.

2008 September Meeting Minutes

Click below for a word document of our DRAFT minutes for our September 2008 meeting.

2009 January 20 meeting minutes

Here are the minutes from our January 20, 2009 neighborhood meeting.

2009 March 17 Meeting Minutes

Click here for our draft meeting minutes!

2009 May Meeting Minutes (draft)

Click on the link below to read our draft meeting minutes.

2009 November Meeting Minutes

Click on the attachment to read the minutes from our November 2009 meeting!

July 10, 2007

Far Southwest Neighborhood Association (FSWNA) Minutes
Tuesday, July 10, 2007 (7 pm to 8:15 pm)
Comfort Suites Motel - Barbur Blvd., Portland, Oregon
Guests: Linda Gerber (PCC Sylvania Campus President), Bob Ochs (Bureau of Technology Services Project Manager), Matt Lamp (Bureau of Technology Services Engineer?), and Ken Goodwin (PCC Director of Public Safety)
[Note: FSWNA belongs to the neighborhood coalition group Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc or SWNI. For more information, see http://swni.org ]

I. Highlights from the PCC Sylvania Campus President (Linda Gerber)
Sustainability is one of PCC's priorities. PCC District President Preston Pulliams just signed the President's Climate Commitment (http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/) committing PCC to reduce carbon emissions and to adopt more sustainable practices. Some practices to accomplish this commitment include: encouraging habitat restoration (such as the Sylvania Habitat Team's work in Sylvania Natural Area Park and on campus); improving recycling efficiency; encouraging reduced resource usage; improving transportation options, including working with Trimet; and incorporating better building operations and practices.
Some new programs have been established, such as an engineering program about alternative energy technologies.
Sylvania is planning a community garden (aka "learning garden") on campus that will begin small, but eventually the college hopes to invite the neighbors to adopt plots.
Sylvania wants to help build stronger relationships with surrounding schools, such as Markham, Jackson, and Wilson. Some dual credit (HS & PCC) courses and advising are currently offered. Linda wants students to be familiar and comfortable with PCC before they graduate from high school.
Linda hopes to collaborate more internally and externally with the community, such as encouraging the use of the community education classes, Performing Arts Center and athletic facilities.
Sylvania would like to work with our neighborhood, SWNI, and the city to support and develop our security and emergency response services.
Linda is open to speaking with neighbors. Call 503-977-4357 to make sure that she is in and she will try very hard to meet with you. Her email is linda.gerber@pcc.edu .
II. Installation of a Public Safety Antenna at PCC Sylvania (Bob Ochs and Matt Lamp)
Matt reviewed some of the history of 800 MHz communications in Portland and how Portland needs to move into the digital age within a few years. When this change happens, the city also hopes to become compatible with statewide communications. Reconfiguration of antennae has increased radio coverage, but the terrain in SW Portland creates "holes" in reception and sending radio messages. Our neighborhood has been in a radio "deadzone" making all services (police, fire, ambulance, trimet, ODOT, PDOT, PCC, etc.) difficult to contact. To help address this problem, a new antenna is planned. Matt and Bob showed us several photos of where the new antenna will go in the woods on the north side of PCC Sylvania's main entrance and gave us mocked up views of what the antenna will look like.

Bob reviewed the land use (LU) and construction schedules. They have 30 days from signature of a contract with PCC Sylvania to submit their plans for LU review. The LU review takes 103 days. Thirty days after submittal, the city can receive bids for construction. Construction can begin 163 days (~5 months) from signing the contract and the construction should take 60-90 days to complete.

The city would own the tower on the college's land, but the college can "sell" the tower to other companies as long as their services do not interfere with the main safety purposes. The antenna does have a capacity limit and frequencies must be considered as well. Bob and Matt were both unsure whether Metrofi, the city's wi-fi contractor, would be allowed access to this antenna.

The antenna is a 120 foot tall pole with 3 antennae. The color will be determined by the Land Use review. The pole will be planted in a concrete pad with pillars, surrounded by a fence topped with barbed wire, and small sheds within the fence will be available for city and possibly college use.

III. Public Safety at Sylvania (Ken Goodwin)
Ken wants to build a mutually beneficial relationship with the neighborhood. The college has supported the building of the emergency services tower antenna, using the college facilities for training in emergency response, and using the college facilities for an emergency shelter.

Ken wanted the neighborhood to be aware of two crimes. An armed robbery occurred on 7/2/07 at 9:20 pm in the parking lot near the track. A strong-arm robbery occurred a month or two ago in the HT men's locker room. In both instances, the perpetrators were described similarly although the recent robbery involved three perpetrators and the first involved two. The perpetrators were African American or dark skinned men in hooded sweatshirts and were in their mid-twenties. In the recent robbery, after obtaining the money, the men ran into our neighborhood through the chain link gate opening nearer to the 78 bus stop and stop sign.

IV. Report from our neighborhood police officer (Davis Kile)
Officer Kile told us that our neighborhood only had 4 phone calls to the police in June (2 regarding a runaway situation, 1 regarding a threat, and 1 regarding theft from a motor vehicle), which is considered very low. He strongly supports installation of the new communications tower for better service access and safety. He also encourages our neighborhood to "be their eyes." Observe activities in our neighborhood and report detailed information regarding crimes in progress or any suspicious activity to the police.

V. SWNI Updates (Marcia Leslie)
Marcia attends the monthly SWNI Board meetings representing our neighborhood. Here are the SWNI updates.
The city of Portland set goals to increase recycling by 75% by 2015, to decrease greenhouse gases, to eventually compost residential food scraps with yard debris, and to require businesses to recycle all paper and food scraps.
All SWNI neighborhood and committee action plans for 2007-2008 were approved. New SWNI officers were installed as well. All of these officers, neighborhoods, and committees are described in the Southwest News. Call (503) 823-4592 if your SW household does not receive this free newspaper, but would like to.
The SWNI board sent a letter to Metro advocating the use of greenspace funds to buy portions of the Riverview cemetary (a seismically and environmentally sensitive area), which has been proposed for multi-unit residential development.
The city is looking for courtyard housing design footprints. Courtyard housing is an alternative to condominiums with shared courtyards in the center that are attractive to families. See "infill design events" at http://www.portlandonline.com.
Events! 7/25/07, 8/1/07, and 8/7/07 are free summer concert days at Willamette Park (Linda Hornbuckle, Flat Mountain Girls, and Michael Manning and the Carolina Pump Station, respectively). 8/18/07 is the Multnomah Days Celebration (see http://www.multnomahvillage.org/joomla/content/view/16/42/). 8/3/07 and 9/1/07 are Multnomah Village Outdoor Cinema evenings (Jurassic Park and O Brother Where Art Thou, respectively).
The graffiti hotline is (503) 823-4824. Please photograph graffiti before it is cleaned off. If you observe graffiti "artists" in action, call 911.
West Portland Park Neighborhood is making a request regarding truck braking on I-5.
Commissioner Sam Adams will be having a follow up meeting to his June transportation Town Hall. Possibly, increased gas taxes or a street maintenance fee on property taxes could be implemented to pay for road improvements.

VI. Parks Update (April Fong)
The PCC Sylvania Habitat Restoration Team received two grants: a Bureau of Environmental Services Community Watershed Stewardship Program grant (CWSP) and a Metro Nature in Neighborhoods grant (NIN). Both grants will continue restoration in Sylvania Natural Area Park. The NIN grant will also begin to develop a PCC/Parks/Markham/Jackson/SUN program relationship by developing an 8-week nature class to be offered through Markham SUN school and events in Sylvania Natural Area Park and/or the Holly Farm Park on Portland Public Schools Days Off and once each in August 2007 and 2008. If you'd like to get involved, we're recruiting volunteers!
The Holly Farm Park is hoping to have its opening and dedication on September 15, 2007 at 3:00 pm.

VI. Next Meeting and Adjournment
FSWNA meets on the second Tuesday of every other month at the Comfort Suites. Our next meeting is scheduled for September 11, 2007 from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

May 13, 2007

Far Southwest Neighborhood Association (FSWNA) Minutes
Tuesday, May 8th, 2007 (7 pm to 8 pm)
Comfort Suites Motel - Barbur Blvd., Portland, Oregon
[Note: FSWNA belongs to the neighborhood coalition group SWNI or Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc. For more information, see http://swni.org ]

I. Safety in our Neighborhood
Brian Hughes is the neighborhood response coordinator at the Portland Police Bureau and is in charge of our neighborhood response. His phone number is (503) 823-0235 and his email is BHughes@PortlandPolice.org . Michael Boyer is the SWNI Crime Prevention Coordinator and is the liaison between the southwest community and the police. His phone number is (503) 519-1857 or (503) 823-3131 and his email is michael.boyer@ci.portland.or.us . Brian and Michael discussed safety with our neighborhood.

Michael explained that the SWNI Crime Prevention Committee meets once a month and that our neighborhood has not had a representative. Chad Kromm volunteered to make the next meeting and report back. The meetings are the 4th Tuesday of each month and meets in the Multnomah Arts Center. The partnership between the neighborhoods and the police has helped to solve issues resulting in removal of a crack house in SW, investigations at various "gentlemen's clubs," etc. Michael and Brian suggested that the more of our "eyes" watching our neighborhood, the safer it can be.

Brian told us to report all suspicious activity and crimes, because accumulation of reports affects patrols in our neighborhood. If we have no suspect descriptions, but a crime has happened, then usually a simple phone report will do. (503) 823-3333 is the non-emergency number. Providing information regarding suspect(s) in action is important, but be safe.

Brian also suggested calling (503) 823-SAFE regarding traffic safety and he offered to get us on the list for the "speeding trailer" that tells vehicles how fast they are traveling. Michael also provided lots of information on how to set up a neighborhood watch, pointers for safety, etc.

II. FSWNA Action Plan
To maintain our non-profit status within SWNI, Marcia had the neighbors approve the FSWNA Action Plan 2007-2008 plan. We grouped our actions into 4 categories and prioritized them: Traffic/Safety; Crime; Parks; and Social/Administrative/Communication. Traffic/Safety and Social/Administrative/Communication each received 10 votes, Parks received 6 votes, and Crime received 5 votes. [Note: Each neighbor had 3 potential votes. Not all votes were used.] Chad will report back on Traffic/Safety, April will report on Parks, and Marcia will report on Social/Administrative/Communication at our next meeting.

III. SWNI Updates
Marcia attends the monthly SWNI Board meetings representing our neighborhood. Here are many of the SWNI updates.
Spring Clean Up--Portland Christian Center on Dosch Road (yard debris, bulky items, scrap metals, reusable items) May 12.
Light Rail Bridge--South of OMSI, maybe replace Sellwood Bridge, decisions pending. Planned for 2008.
Increased Patrolling--Tell Michael Boyer of streets or intersections that need patrolling.
Community Budget Forum--Robert Gray Middle School, May 10, 6-8:30 pm (Neighbors who support the funding for communication and neighborhood grants should state so at this forum.)
VisionPDX Open House--Multnomah Arts Center, May 21. View the preliminary survey findings and recommendations.
SW Feed the Hungry--Was a huge success. 103,331 (number not certain by notetaker) pounds of food were gathered for emergency food boxes.
IV. Old Business
The Measure 37 Claim by Private Pleasures on SW 53rd Avenue is for a 45 foot tall billboard. They put in a claim for $138,000. Another judgement affects their claim. We will know more after May 23.
Safety Umbrellas are $20 and are a current neighborhood fund-raiser. Let Marcia know if you would like to purchase one.
V. New Business
Men have been canvassing the neighborhood alone, with a hands-free cell phone connection on their ears, claiming to represent Tigard Exhaust and selling coupon books for $7.99 oil changes. Marcia has called Tigard Exhaust and this is a SCAM! Call the non-emergency number (503) 823-3333, if you see these men.
VI. Next Meeting and Adjournment
FSWNA meets on the second Tuesday of every other month. Our next meeting is scheduled for July 10, 2007 from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm. We hope to have PCC Sylvania's Campus President give a report on the state of PCC. Let Marcia know if you have any additions to the July agenda.

September 11, 2007

Far Southwest Neighborhood Association (FSWNA) Minutes
Tuesday, September 11, 2007 (7 pm to 8:30 pm)
Comfort Suites Motel - Barbur Blvd., Portland, Oregon
Guests: Will Fuller of the SWNI Schools Committee
[Note: FSWNA belongs to the neighborhood coalition group Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc or SWNI. For more information, see http://swni.org.]

I. SWNI Schools Committee (Will Fuller)
Will handed out the Committee's quarterly newsletter, which included a list of all K-12 schools in our neighborhoods. He noted that we are the ONLY neighborhood coalition with a schools committee and that ours began because of the Rieke and Smith School closures. The goal of this committee is to bridge the school communities with the broader communities and to promote education in SW Portland. They meet every third Thursday and our neighborhood is invited to send a representative.

Will then briefly discussed 3 schools issues (the hiring of a new Portland Public Schools (PPS) Superintendent, Teacher Transfers, and The Schools, Families and Affordable Housing Initiative). Regarding the Superintendent, he recommended that we visit http://pps.k12.or.us if we want to keep up on the search. They have held several community meetings already, ran a nationwide search, and the search ended 8/15 with a strong pool. We should hear what is happening soon.

Regarding Housing and Teacher Transfers, Will said that PPS hires late, which protects seniority, but limits the available pool of new teachers, because sometimes teachers get hired 10 days before classes start and some teachers have already committed to other districts. There is a group called Stand For Children that runs the New Teacher Project. This group has studied the effects of this late hiring process and changes are being suggested.

Will discussed the three programs that would help families stay in Portland under Erik Sten's Affordable Housing Initiative.

II. Committee Reports (Marcia Leslie and April Ann Fong)
The SW Summer Concert Series in Willamette Park was a smashing success. Please look forward to supporting them again next year!
The Holly Farm Park Grand Opening is 9/15 at 3 pm. This Park is already well-used and loved!
The Private Pleasures Measure 37 claim regards a 600 square foot billboard 300 feet in the air, which is denied by building code rather than Measure 37. The building is now for sale.
April received a phone call from Andrew Aebi regarding paving between SW Capitol Hwy. and the college. Mr. Aebi informed her that the main supporters are on SW Buddington between 51st and 53rd. More surveys and public process will be happening and everyone in this area should receive phone calls.

III. New Business (Marcia Leslie)
The small grants for neighborhood programs is being offered again. Some grants funded last year involved communications (web sites, welcome packets...), get acquainted neighborhood block parties and picnics, etc. We could get up to $1000 and the applications are due November 1, 2007.

IV. Announcements (Marcia Leslie)
Marcia told us about the 9/15 yard sale/emergency supply fundraiser, a workshop on 9/22 from 9-11 am at Tryon Creek Nature Center on Invasive Plants and your garden, and a new Neighborhood Emergency Training class that begins 9/27 and runs 8 weeks.

Next meeting is Tuesday, November 13th at 7 pm at the Comfort Suites. The intended topic will be disaster and winter preparedness.