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| July 1, 2009 |
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| Written by Robert Hamilton | |
| Tuesday, 30 June 2009 | |
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Hillsdale Neighborhood Association
Minutes of July 1, 2009 St. Barnabas Church HNA members introduced themselves, the minutes of the June 3 meeting were approved, and agenda for tonight’s meeting was approved. Action Items: -With regard to passage of a motion relating to Oregon Dept. of Transportation’s construction of a new Iowa Street bridge over I-5 (see below), Don Baack recommended that the HNA designate the specific streets which the 15,000 truckloads of material are prohibited from using. -Chris Burkhart stated that the HNA must designate to Sylvia Bogert of Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc. (SWNI) the contact information for various people who should receive information regarding: land use matters (Duane Hunting); schools (Michael Reunert); transportation (Don Baack, Wes Risher, or Glenn Bridger); parks; and crime prevention. In addition, she needs the name of a main contact, someone who will pick up mail directed to SWNI for HNA, some of which is time sensitive. -The HNA attendance sheet for each monthly meeting should be sent to Sylvia Bogert of HNA. Inaction Item The HNA, as usual, will not meet in August but will resume general membership meetings on Wednesday, September 2. Food Front representatives Holly Jarvis and Tom Mattox provided refreshments for the meeting. They reported that recession sales are “fine” and that 2,500 members are supporting the store in Hillsdale. The product line has been customized to fit the needs of the neighborhood. The promotion program is popular. The chili feed was a success, and they continue to have “monthly food event”. In January, one shopper alone collected a significant amount of food plus $1,000 for delivery to Neighborhood House for distribution. Holly and Tom did note that they are also encountering challenges in Hillsdale: the facility is old, as is the refrigeration; they have encountered four power outages; and walk-in (but not drive-in) traffic is less than expected, except on Farmers’ Market Sundays and especially during the snow storm (when business was very brisk). They continue to sponsor a neighborhood cleanup on the second Saturday of each month. Food Front board member Arnie Panitch noted that fish and meat selections have been added and are sent, as well, to the Thurman Street store. Food Front customers come from throughout the greater Portland area and show great loyalty to the store and their brands. Tom also stated that the Hillsdale merchants are finding new ways to collaborate for joint marketing purposes. Bob Currey-Wilson (Group Vice President, Real Estate & Store Development for Fred Meyer) and Robert Fagliano (associate with Mulvanny G2 Architecture) reported on plans to renovate the 76,000 square-foot Fred Meyer Burlingame store on Barbur Boulevard at 13th Avenue. At this size, the “flag ship” store is approximately 50% of the size of new suburban stores. Bob stated that their goal is to produce a “full-service store”. He reviewed the history of their plans. They have now decided not to close the store but definitely need to update and replace the systems within it as many are 40-50 years old. The building will be expanded on the north side and part of the two-story parking structure removed to accommodate a larger truck bay and dock, thus permitting the trucks to back straight in. The current Burger King structure will close at the end of 2009. The upper-level parking entrance will be modified; the bottle-can crusher will be moved to the upper level; construction will begin in the spring of 2010. It is possible but not definite that the store will meet LEED standards like those of the Hawthorne/39th Avenue store. It may have skylights. Materials and design will be environmentally friendly but the store will not have a green roof because the cost is prohibitive. Arnie Panitch asked if the shoe store, the wagging cow tails, and the exterior sign will be retained. No final decisions yet, but there will definitely be a transparent elevator linking the two floors of the parking garage. Don Baack suggested they consider retaining the pedestrian entrance to the north, include a stairway from the corner of SW 13th and Bertha, and include a three-level drinking fountain in their design. No additional measures will need to be taken to maintain the flow of Stephens Creek through its current conduit below ground. A public meeting on the Fred Meyer application will be held at the planning office of the City of Portland on July 15 at 1900 SW Fifth Avenue. Jim Stutts, Rick Seifert, and Robert Hamilton reported upon their meeting with Brian Sheehan, West District Planner for the City of Portland Bureau of Planning. The participants explored options for bringing stakeholders to a meeting, or series of them, to discuss the implementation of the Hillsdale Town Center Plan released in February. They will continue to report monthly upon their progress in identifying the most obvious starting point of implementation—the so-called “low-hanging fruit”—which will appeal to all stakeholders, including neighborhood residents, business owners, property owners, and others. This meeting also incorporated the concept of finding a site for a small movie theater in either Hillsdale itself or at a location appealing to residents of Hillsdale, Raleigh Hills, Multnomah Village, and SWHRL. Robert Hamilton also noted that Julian Lauzzana has suggested an alternative movie theater concept: beginning with a “rotating theater” which would move among various sites during the preliminary phase until a permanent investor and site are forthcoming. Robert has spoken to the manager of the McMennamin’s restaurant in Hillsdale regarding their possible interest and participation in the concept of a pub-theater or family dinner theater; and he has also spoken to ReMax to determine if their commercial brokers are aware of sites for a theater within the four-neighborhood area. HNA members are welcome to submit other ideas and join Robert and Julian in the effort to enhance the community with the addition of a movie theater. Don Baack reported on his effort, as chair of Southwest Trails, to persuade the South Portland Neighborhood Association and the HNA to support applying pressure to the Oregon Dept. of Transportation to prohibit trucks working on the future Iowa structure project from using specific streets; and, secondly, to fund a mitigation measure because of the projected ODOT closure of The 40-Mile Loop and Urban Trail 3, which go under the Barbur and Iowa Structures, for up to three years of construction activity. SW Trails proposes mitigation for the closure; that ODOT recondition Newbury Bridge on Barbur to be useable by bicycles; and that ODOT also provide $619,000 of their construction budget to fund the incremental cost of a pedestrian crossing under Boones Ferry Road which would be a bridge rather than a culvert. The bridge is on the Regional Hillsdale to Lake Oswego pedestrian trail. In June, HNA members discussed Don’s proposal in his absence but tabled a motion of support until he could report in person at the July meeting. Don explained that the Oregon State Parks will not plan or fund a pedestrian trail until a safe crossing of Boones Ferry is assured. PDOT has not been supportive of a signal at the Arnold and Boones Ferry intersection due to the high speed of the traffic on Boones Ferry Road. The Bureau of Environmental Services has budgeted $3.1 million for a culvert at the site. Changing the culvert into a bridge that pedestrians can use to walk under Boones Ferry Road will cost $619,000 according to current estimates. BES will not fund the incremental cost. The membership took the motion-to-table off the table and unanimously passed the following motion, made by Don Baack and seconded by Arnie Panitch: “The Hillsdale Neighborhood Association supports the $619,000 incremental cost funding by the Oregon Dept. of Transportation of the incremental cost of a bridge over the proposed culvert on the Hillsdale-to-Lake Oswego Pedestrian Trail and the reconditioning of Slavin Road to permit pedestrian and bicycle use as mitigation for closure of the 40-Mile Route and Urban Trail 3.” The membership also discussed and unanimously passed a second transportation-related motion made by Don Baack and seconded by Rick Seifert: “The Hillsdale Neighborhood Association reaffirms that the next federally funded transportation project in our community should be that from Cheltenham to Terwilliger along Capitol Highway.” Rick Seifert reported that the Hillsdale Foundation is considering ideas from the June 9 meeting at The Watershed regarding the best way to spend $3,000 to improve Hillsdale for the largest number of people. Don Baack reported that $5,000 has been raised for a tri-level drinking fountain for the Stephens Creek Trail. Its three levels will accommodate dogs, children, and adults. SW Trails is proceeding with the installation. The meeting was adjourned at 9:24 p.m. Minutes submitted by Robert Hamilton. |
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