Mt Scott Arleta Neighborhood Association meeting Meeting started at 6:30 p.m.

April 3, 2013

Board members attending: Meghan Humphreys, Erika Palmer-Wilson, Nicole Green, Scott Vala, Marcel Hermans, Jed Roberts, Lisa Anne Ross (18 attendees total signed in) Brad Taylor, neighborhood crime prevention officer visited. He offered to do a crime prevention through environmental design for one neighbor who has been burglarized twice. He said most happen during the day, and most enter through back doors. If there is a house that is attracting crime (occupied or not), Brad said he would like to know about it. Other neighbors reported that they had also had a burglary. Alarms with signs are okay, but not a perfect deterrent. Mauricio Leclerc from PBOT attended there is a stakeholder group active since last September which has been studying Foster Rd (a high-crash corridor). This process is updating the 2003 streetscape plan to improve Foster, and we recently got 3.5 million in funds to update Foster. The plan is looking at crossings, cross-sections and streetscape elements. There will be a public event in May for public feedback. We have recommendations for enhanced crossings (rapid-flash beacons, not zebra crosswalks.) There are recommended enhancements at 70th, 74th/75th, and 84th, and funding is available for them now. There is a narrowed list of cross-sections being considered that would be public at a May open house event. Lisa Anne asked about the cycle track option and how it affects pedestrians. Mauricio said it would come on and off the sidewalk but would not cross the pedestrian area. Parking usage is currently very low everywhere but in the heart of Foster and close to 52nd Ave. But there may be future demand that may need to be accommodated. Adding bike lanes, according to Metro modeling, would increase cyclist usage by double or triple. Three lanes would possibly impact traffic numbers and move some cars to other nearby streets. It would also make crossing the street much safer than it currently is. One resident said he is concerned about increased traffic on side streets. Any blockage on Foster usually increases traffic on SE 70th where he lives. He would like the City to offer traffic calming if an unforeseen increase happens on a side street (speed bumps or other devices.) The process is that in May there will be an open house where people can weigh in and give their preferred options, and then the committee and PBOT will use that information to make a recommendation. Marcel asked about travel time it will not dramatically increase according to models used for this? Mauricio said that is correct. Jed asked what is the cheapest alternative Mauricio said that the three lane option would be the least expensive. Officer Carroll of the Portland Police visited. He said that this neighborhood has no dedicated neighborhood officer right now. He mentioned that anyone can call the East Precinct Police office and ask for the Neighborhood Response Team (NRT) officer, they can address ongoing issues. Brad Taylor (mentioned above) can do so as well.

Nick Falbo came to talk about 82nd Avenue there are concerns about traffic safety along 82nd. Montavilla NA has been organizing a roundtable with transportation heads of ODOT, PBOT and other agencies to ask how they can improve 82nd and how can the City can gain more control of 82nd to make needed improvements (rather than the State - ODOT). There is a group (82nd Avenue Improvement Coalition) forming that the MSANA can sign on to and endorse. This coalition is looking beyond transportation, and examining land use, business, and lots of other issues. There are a lot of disparate plans governing 82nd, but not cohesive in espousing one vision. The objectives are 1) to advocate short term planned improvements that improve the street and 2) to help create a long-term plan for 82nd. Cheri asked what the top priority for the group is? Nick says that its to find planned improvements that ODOT already has on their funding list and advocate for those when possible. Vicki from Holgate Library said that she has two studies that might be useful: one on redesigning big streets, and another on how much money people on bikes vs people in cars spend at businesses. She will forward those to Nick and Erika. Marcel said it would be good practice to keep a representative from each signer on the group. The group is asking us to support the 82nd Avenue Improvement Coalition and the stated objectives. Marcel motioned, and Lisa Anne seconded it. Motion passed. SE Uplift and NE Coalition of Neighborhoods is having a meeting to talk about this issue soon. SE Uplift: Board Meeting on Monday was held, and the group supported letter to PBOT to have a full-time advisory committee for public input. Another issue surrounds OLCC allowing patios to be open late; theyre asking OLCC to close those by 10:00 p.m. There may be City of Portland budget cuts that would eliminate communications funding to neighborhood associations. Land Use: New letter received re: 61st & Harold new construction where a lot was subdivided and construction is proceeding now. Land Use Sustainability and Transportation committee met and they may have a separate Transportation Subcommittee forming soon since so much is happening around transportation. Arleta Triangle: Work parties will continue throughout the summer on the last Saturday of every month at 10 a.m. Neighbors are invited to help for any amount of time they can spare gardening, litter pickup are the key needs. Scott asked if the Neighborhood Association would be interested in hardscaping for the (currently gravel) plaza area at the site and asked if the neighborhood association would consider contributing $500/$600 on improvements. Lisa Anne felt it was do-able, and the survey project indicated some things that people felt were important that this project would help the neighborhood work on. Meghan will ask for grant funds from Lowes and Home Depot to partially fund any improvements, and will bring a more formal request for funds to the May N.A. meeting. Budget:

Budgeted to spend $3,500 this fiscal year (were of the way through and only spent $1500.) We are behind on fundraising goals by at least $1,000. Erika said that elections are next month so anyone can run who has been to four meetings in the past year can be elected. Holgate Library: Holgate Library will be hosting an event August 17th that will be bike-themed and promote alternative transportation. The new MCL library catalog website is working now, and has many new capabilities. The app MCL has is mainly for renewing books and is a separate entity. Lents Food Buying Club is looking for members for anyone interested in buying their food from a buying club. Dan asked if they would consider delivering a couple days a week if there is interest? Cleanup Event Shawna needs volunteers to hand out flyers for the cleanup. There is a lot of interest in street cleanups / alley cleanups; Erika will pick up that collected garbage that people gather. Lisa Anne Ross has been a great board member to the neighborhood and will not be running again this year. The group appreciated her work and service. Meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m. -minutes by Meghan Humphreys