SW Trails PDX
Monthly Meeting Minutes
April 22, 2014
The Watershed Building in Hillsdale
6388 SW Capitol Hwy
Portland OR 97239
DRAFT
Attendance: Don Baack, Lee Buhler, Chris Mays, Dianne Mays, Glenn Bridger, Dave Manville, Barbara Stedman, Tim Hamilton, Joan Hamilton, Hans Steuch
The meeting was called to order at 7:03 pm
After introductions Don talked about a walk he did today on the 4T trail. He said he went to the budget meeting and Beth Madison, the principal at Robert Gray school did a very good job talking about the proposed trail and bridge along 25th near the school. Don and a parent will put some gravel on the trail this Friday. Don asked for a good day for a work party in May on the trail. There is also some work in Himes Park. Don said we will also need help with the Hillsdale Health fair on May 4th. Don suggested the
Glenn moved to approve the agenda. Barbara seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously
Walks: Virginia said she would lead the walk in May. We will car pool to the TriMet parking lot on Barbur and go from there. Pete will lead in June and will go to Bishop’s Close. Don volunteered to lead in October and go on the 4T trail.
Treasurer’s Report: Chris reported that we have $15,895.31 in the SW Trails bank account. We had revenue of $90.00 and expenditures of $2.93. The $2.93 was PayPal charges.
Don said he received the 4T patches which we will sell for $5.00.
Don said Amiee has a draft of the SW Trails brochure. Don said he has been talking to Travel Portland to develop a brochure for the 4T.
Dianne said Barbara has requested that we send out a fund raising email in May.
Dave said he and Hans looked for missing signs and found quite a few. They turned in a list of twenty to the city and they have another twenty they will turn in. He said they are about 70% done going over the trails. He expects to find about another ten missing or broken signs.
Hans pointed out that there are no signs on the Lewis and Clark College and it is easy to get lost on the campus. Don said we should talk to them about it. Don said there is a section of trail next to the college that it would be good to get an easement for. Dave said PCC Sylvania has the same issue. He pointed out that some Portland Parks could also use signs. Don said they had discussed it with Parks and a lot are marked but there could be more. He said signs are needed in Gabriel Park and Albert Kelly park. He said there is pretty good signage in Himes Park. Hans suggested a meeting with the person at PDOT on replacing the signs.
Glenn talked about the Portland Comprehensive Plan. He met with Joan Frederickson. She told him they are planning to have a draft by July. This will go to City Hall. There will be a meeting on the plan on May 14th in Hillsdale. Don said there is a meeting on the Transportation System Plan on the 30th. There will be an update this year and another one next year.
Don said Mark Lear came to the SWNI Transportation meeting the prior night. He recommended people come to the meeting on Thursday night to discuss the possible new tax for transportation improvements. Don said many people want a guarantee there will be no “back-filling” of funds. Don said the gas tax will not bring in much more money. Hans said there was a slide show on the internet about the projects and taxes.
Don asked people to fill out the Metro survey on SW Corridor projects. Don pointed out that there should be additional projects.
Don said construction is underway on Multnomah.
Don said construction on Vermont is going well. They have built retaining walls. Hans asked why they did not put the sidewalk on the other side. Don said they may not have enough right-of-way on the other side and neighbors might have preferred that side. Glenn said it may also have to do with drainage.
Don said construction on Terwilliger has started. Barbara asked if there was going to be paving for bikes. Don and Glenn explained how the traffic changes would be. Glenn said the Water Bureau did not know that Barbur would be torn up at the same time as Terwilliger. Barbara pointed out it would be good to do traffic counts.
Don said the contractors have submitted bids for the Red Electric Bridge. Glenn showed a map where the bridge would be for those who did not know.
Barbara asked about funds for the bridge and Glenn said it is MTIP funds. Barbara asked where the Parks money would go and Don said the west end of the trail.
Don said they are considering a bridge or culvert for Boones Ferry. The advisory committee said they preferred a bridge.
Don said the city has appointed an engineer to work on the drainage problem on Tunnelwood.
Don said he is trying to get the City to fund a crosswalk at Macadam and Richardson.
Don said he has a conversion with someone at BES on the 25th and Texas vacation. He said it is important to push for an easement in exchange for the vacation.
Hans said the Coronado trail is being used. He said there is someone at PBOT who will work on policy to deal with encroachments and how it relates to state law. Don pointed out that we need to keep the pressure on to get this policy done and in operation. Hans talked how the neighborhood is feeling about the trail, pro and con. Glenn pointed out that the Neighborhood Association cannot prohibit people to use a public right-of-way.
Don said it would be good to have a newsletter on the progress of the Red Electric Trail. Glenn asked if we could use graphics from the Red Electric brochure. He said it would be good to develop a masthead for the newsletter. Hans said he has been walking parts of the trail. Glenn said there are sections of were the trail could go that are not in public domain.
Send Don geo-caching article.
We discussed geo-caching. We will send out a link from an article by Metro on it. Hans and Dave said it had to be managed to avoid damage to natural areas.
Don asked if people were OK with meeting on Tuesdays rather than Thursdays. He will send out a notice to the mailing list.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:26 pm
Respectfully submitted
Lee Buhler
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