May Meeting minutes

SW Trails PDX
Monthly Meeting Minutes

May 22, 2014

The Watershed Building in Hillsdale
6388 SW Capitol Hwy
Portland OR 97239

DRAFT

Attendance: Don Baack, Glenn Bridger, Lee Buhler, Glenn Bridger, Dave Manville, Hans Steuch, Floyd Smith, Doug Rogers, Barbara Bowers

The meeting was called to order at 7:04 pm

After introductions Lee moved to approve the agenda with the addition of a discussion of Quail Park. Glenn seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

Minutes: Doug made a motion to approve the May 2014 minutes with the addition of Keturah to the attendance. Hans seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

Hans asked and Don explained what MTIP (Metropolitan Transportation Improvements Plan) projects were.

Walks: Sharon said Pete will lead a hike June 14 to Bishop’s Close. Don will lead the hike in July. Hans said he would lead August. Sharon said Friends of Terwilliger asked us to lead a hike on Saturday July 27th. Sharon and Virginia will lead the hike. Virginia said there were three or four new people who came on the May SW Trails hike.

Treasurer’s Report: Chris, who could not attend the meeting had emailed the treasurer’s report to the board.

Don said a middle school child went to City Council to testify in favor of the Safe Route to School for the route on 25th. She got a big ovation. Don said he talked to Representative Williams and Senator Burdick about it and they wrote a letter about it. Don got a request to explain to mayor’s staff how SWTrails could get a portion of the project done for a modest cost. We will be contacted by PBOT One of these days. He said it estimated the cost to be between $20,000 and $30,000. Doug asked the length of bridge needed. Glenn said it should be shorter than the Raz-Baack crossing. Don said it depends on whether we need to avoid the E-zone. Don said we need to clear the brush to make a contour map. He said we might be able to use a Forest Service pre-built bridge and have it dropped in place, or we may need to custom design a bridge.

Membership: Don said Barbara asks that people renew their membership.

History of the Red Electric:

Doug said he and Hans went over the route of the Red Electric Train line. Doug has been working on a description of the route. Doug described the route from downtown Portland. He said the I-5 freeway was once the Oregon Electric Route. He said the Red Electric went down what is now Bertha. There was a station at Capitol. He said you can see some of the route from that point west. He said there was an eastern version of the Red Electric that went along the Willamette to Lake Oswego. He said the Red Electric was a loop route that went to McMinnville. He said it started in 1869. He described what can still be seen. He said said you can see where they cut through the hill. He said there is a ½ mile stretch near Hayhurst School and Pendleton park could be made into a trail easily. Don said Dave and Amiee have developed a masthead for the Red Electric newsletter. Don suggested putting Dougs description on the website.

We discussed leading a hike showing the Red Electric route at the west end.

Don said the worst train accident in Oregon history happened on what is now Bertha Boulevard just south of the Raz Baack crossing.

SW Corridor Plan:

Don talked about the SW Corridor Plan latest recommendations. He showed a map of the proposed routes. He described the proposed routes. He said they are not considering a route that goes be,tween I5 and Barbur. He said he hoped they would reconsider as the light rail would take so much of Barbur. He said the bus system would be approximately $1.8 billion. Don talked about the projects that would be done along with the system. He said there is a possibility that they could do a cut and fill tunnel in Hillsdale for the Bus system. Dave said they did something like that in Seattle that worked out well. Floyd said they are asking Metro to keep the longer tunnel on the table. He said the deep bore would not be as large as the Seattle bore. Glenn said he is concerned as Barbur is a “main street” for SW Portland and a trail would ruin that. He said it makes sense to put it next to I-5 as I-5 is already a barrier.

Don said they took off the option to the Slavin Road trail connection. Lee made motion to ask Metro to put the Red Electric connection on Slavin back in the project list. Dave seconded the motion and he said it was important to have separated bike and ped routes for kids and families. The motion passed unanimously.

Misc:

Don showed a drawing of Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway to 65th drainage retrofits. He suggested we have someone from BES at the next June 26th meeting to discuss this.

Dave said the City has responded to the trail sign problems. He said they have written a few of the work orders on it. He said he will submit another 30 problems. He said we need to have this project on the web or use the cloud to keep track of the project. He said they are questioning whether SW Trails can do maintenance on the signs.

Don said they are working on the Comprehensive Plan and TSP Plan. He said it is important to have the urban trails classified as greenways.

Don said there will be a work party Wilson High on May 31 from 9-1. He asked people to also sign up for being with the SW Trails booth at several events. Don talked about a work party to build a 95′ trail connection Burlingame Park in South Burlingame. He will send out a note with suggested work party days.

Don updated progress on Multnomah Blvd construction and other projects. He said Jennifer Devlin is working on getting money to fix the 19th and Taylor’s Ferry Road drainage problem.

Don said they decided to make the Boones Ferry crossing of Tryon Creek a bridge rather than a culvert. He said they plan to apply for a grant for $800,000 from Metro to build it.

Hans said the status of the Coronado Trail is unchanged. Sarah Schooley, pedestrian coordinator for PBOT will walk the trail with Hans next Thursday. Don said Sarah has a very good reputation.

Don talked about pedestrian crossings of Natio at Whitaker and at Richardson at Macadam. Don said the new Streets Fee could be used for these safety improvements if it passes. Glenn said we should consider a motion to support it. He said our streets are in bad shape and this is the only way to solve this problem. He said nearby communities already have such fees. Don suggested asking for a five year sunset to the fee. Doug said it would be good to get further information on the street fees in nearby cities.

Don said the planters on 19th are not draining well and the plants are dying. He will do a walk around tomorrow to show the problem.

Don said they will do extended shoulder when they do the ditches on Hamilton.

Floyd talked about Quail Parktrail. He also said there is a house on 42nd that might have been a Red Electric station. He said he has been a board member of the Oregon Rail Advocacy Board. They advocate for higher speed rail. He suggested people participate on the on-line survey on the SW Corridor Plan. Quail park is just north of Maracra Park. Floyd said they formed a committee to work on the trail in their development. He said there is an asphalt trail along the creek. They would like to de-pave it and put down gravel but the cost is very high. They plan to do an assessment of the trail next Saturday. Doug asked if it was a developed neighborhood and Floyd said there are 92 homes. He said the committee is very hopeful they can move ahead. Dave asked if it was private or public and Don said it was private. Floyd said they encourage people to walk through and he said he does not remember anyone asking people to not go on the trail. He said the bridges need work. He said that there is good support from the neighborhood.

Barbara said she it would be good to recognize people that help maintain trails. She suggested a plaque.

Glenn said he and Hans went over Chris’s financial statements and everything looked very well. Don pointed out they also did the 990 IRS tax form.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 pm

Respectfully submitted

Lee Buhler