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Mar
04
2009
| March 4, 2009 |
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| Written by Philippe Kreiter | |
| Tuesday, 03 March 2009 | |
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Hillsdale Neighborhood Association Meeting 4 March 2009 A. Introductions: “How has the economy affected you?” B. Approval of Agenda – It was moved and seconded to approve the agenda. The motion passed unanimously. C. Approval of Minutes– It was moved and seconded to approve the agenda. The motion passed unanimously. D. Approximately 30 present II. Portland Parks and West Willamette Coalition (which includes Hillsdale)a summary of what we have achieved over the past 2 to 3 years. They will also present the draft plans for removing invasives from Himes Park, the role of hand pulling ivy and European Clematis, the role of people cutting down Holly, Laurel, Clematis and Norway Maple, and the role of using treatments to kill the ivy along with replanting plans will be covered. Join other volunteers on the 3rd Sat every month at 9 to 12 noon. A. “Integrated Pest Management” (IPM) targets the removal and control of invasive species: Animals, Plants, wasps and other factors that may negatively impact the public. Not all insects are sprayed, but a threshold is determined of what is no longer tolerable. After the threshold has been reached, then action is taken. The work of IPM includes vegetation survey that has designed health rating for all parks and natural areas in Portland. This study outlines where parks and natural areas are and thus identifies where work and action can be taken. B. On the west side, two areas of interest are the wetlands along the Willamet –which serves as a fly-way for migrating birds—and George Himes Park. Most of George Himes Park is rated as ‘fair’ and ‘poor’ due to invasive plants, and the remainder of the part is not yet surveyed. Currently, work is being done to remove invasive trees –English Holly, English Laurel, Norway Maple etc. These species take over and prevent native species from surviving. Over the next weeks, IPM will be working in the area to restore it to a healthy native environment. There will be signage up, so it is important to keep dogs on leash until the chemicals dry. They work through the photosynthetic process of plants, and reach half-life once they are dry. Thus these chemicals are very low risk and the area will be safe once the chemicals are dry. Spraying is chosen in the west hills due in part to steep terrain and the destabilization of hillsides with manual/mechanical removal vs. chemical removal. C. IPM work group meets from 9 to noon, third Saturday of every month. IPM also would like a letter of support from the neighborhood association. The neighborhood will provide this letter. D. It is important to work on getting invasive species out of our yards, and for us to encourage our neighbors to get invasive species out of their yards. Another neighbor with a lot of invasive species is DOT. The stretch of land between I-5 and Barbur is a real problem. III. TriMet will present information on why they seek to change or eliminate bus lines 55, 39 and 1, all of which serve Hillsdale. Trimet is facing a 13.5 million dollar budget shortfall. $.50 or every dollar comes from payroll tax. Trimet budget: 55% of funds come from payroll tax, 20% from fare box, the remainder from other sources. With the rise in unemployment, the shortfall grows. There is a hiring freeze in place, and 4 million dollars have already been cut. There are three areas of service reductions in case of necessity: discontinued lines, reduces lines, and spans of service that are reduced (such as weekend service). Twelve lines have been targeted for discontinuation. These are mostly low performing lines with the exception of three that have good alternative service available. (41, 33, 74) Line 55 is targeted for discontinuation. It costs 8:50 per ride due to low ridership, where the average cost is 2.32 per ride. Line 1 – Saturday will be discontinued and day service will be 6:30 to 9:30 am and 3:00 to 6:00 pm rather than all day service. Line 39 is targeted for the elimination of weekend service. Line 43 will lose weekend service. There is a 5% across the board system-wide cut (and instructions to prepare for the possibility of and additional 3% cut –maybe more later depending on the situation). The cuts affect 1.1% of daily rides. 51 – Discontinuation of Saturday service. Weekdays –last trip out of downtown core would begin at 7:36 instead of 9:32. Max service has also been affected. All rush hour service is the same except yellow line where all trains will be two car trains, with reduction in frequency. All other max trains will be reduced to every thirty minutes, as opposed to fifteen minutes, outside of rush hour. The fourth open house on this subject has just been complete. 44.8 million dollars have been received from the stimulus package. The first half has to be spent within the first 120 days. It cannot be spent on operating expenses –only shovel ready projects. A. The changes in service should be implemented in September. B. Comments can be sent via email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or via phone (503) 238- ride C. Between the end of the March and 6 April (Wilson), 7 April (downtown) ,8 April (TBD) hearings (4 to 7 each day), comments will be taken into account. D. It was asked if executive salaries would be cut to the same measure as the other cuts. That is not known. E. Contracting with churches for park and ride is important because “hide and ride” is going to be an increasing problem in Hillsdale. F. It seems that a lot of fares are missed. About $800.000 are missed through fare loss by people boarding in fareless square but riding out to the end of a line. Catching these free riders requires more fare inspectors. G. We need to ask that a Trimet director to come to our meeting IV. Neighbors will join us to present the needs for and progress on obtaining traffic calming on Capitol Hill Road and on SW 18th from Capitol Hwy and Sunset. A. A launch date for the petition project has been selected: April 2. The meeting is at West Hills Christian School. There have already been a lot of meetings and information sharing. With the petition launch, 30 days are allowed for collecting signatures. The project requires 2/3 of the property owners to support the petition. The project also requires neighborhood support in May meetings of the Hillsdale and Multnomah associations. B. There is already more than 67% of support from home owners in a straw pole. Five home owners are in opposition, some are undecided, and some have not been contacted yet. C. Safeway has been supportive and has voluntarily rerouted trucks off of Capitol Highway. D. Barbur Rents owners live on the street and are supportive. E. West Hills Christian School supports the project. They have posted signs on their property allowing only right turns out of the parking lot. F. The cost is $2200 per bump, and the decision is between 9 and 11 bumps. G. Opposition says that historically, speed-bumps don’t reduce average speeds. It supports enforcing traffic laws and increasing patrols, especially during peak hours. V. Traffic control on Dewitt and 18th. It is a speedway. There have been many promises for traffic calming and sidewalks, but nothing has come. It is a narrow street with no dividing line, but it is heavily used as a throughway. The neighbors are encouraged to get together and create a vision and direction that they want to take for the street. VI. Report from the Nominating Committee, elections in May A. Officer positions: 1. Position 1 - President: Don Baack 2 Position 2 - Secretary: Philippe Kreiter B. Board positions 1. Position 5 – Robert Hamilton 2. Position 7 – Aloha Weis 3. Position 9 - Mikal Apenes 4. Position 11 -: Fred Faveluke C. Contact Glenn Bridger ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or Philippe Kreiter (HNA website) VII. Reports from the Schools Committee, SWNI, Transportation andTrails Committees. A. Schools: Economy is hitting schools. Budget cuts will happen. They have been discussing options and soliciting input, most recently at Wilson High School. The PPS website does have a survey at their website. It is important to give input quickly. The Governor has also noted that there will be cuts from the schools. Rieke and Maplewood are both getting portables. The Robert Gray auction is in April. The auctions (Wilson and Gray) are all announced in the Neighborhood Connection. The solar array for Rieke is moving forward. School visits are encouraged. Talk to Don Baack to organize a visit. B. State of Oregon –next month –we need to discuss what we want as mitigation for closing the trail. VIII. Other business and new business. IX. Adjournment: 9:30 Respectfully Submitted by Philippe Kreiter Secretary, Hillsdale Neighborhood Association |
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