April – October 2016 minutes

SW Trails PDX
Monthly Meeting
April 28, 2016The Watershed Building in Hillsdale
6388 SW Capitol Hwy
Portland OR 97239

DRAFT

Attendance: Don Baack, Lee Buhler, Dave Manville, Sharon Fekety, Keturah Pennington, Hans Steuch, Barbara Bowers, Chris Mays, Dianne Mays, Michael Kisor, Leigh Schwartz, Andrea Wall, Barbara Stedman, Lisa Frank

The meeting was called to order at 7:02pm.

After introductions the agenda with the addition of a discussion of gravel on 25th was approved.

Minutes: Hans made a motion to accept the March minutes. Keturah seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously

Don said there was a request by a real estate agency to sponsor our SW Trail hikes. Barbara read IRS regulations on the consequences of the income. She said sponsorship is OK but advertising is not. The hikes are currently sponsored by the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association. Don said he would find a lawyer that could give an opinion. Barbara said she thought it was not appropriate to include advertising with hikes. Keturah pointed out that a $100 sponsorship was fine. Dave suggested tabling the issue and there was no opposition.

Multnomah/Garden Home Intersection:

Michael introduced Lisa Frank who is a member of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. She talked about the Multnomah/Garden Home intersection area. It is in Portland but in Washington County. There have been a lot of crashes at the intersection. She handed out information on the project from the City of Portland. They would like to re-align it to make it more of a tee. There is possible funding from Washington County. They have a list of projects. But there is not funding for all of them. The estimated cost of this project is $2,000,000. There will be open houses on the funding. Don said Glenn is suggesting a traffic circle at the intersection. Michael suggested that people let those who live in Washington County know about the open houses. Lisa suggested people go to the Tigard open house as there will be City of Portland personnel there as well. Dave suggested asking what data from previous crashes is being addressed by the projects. Don pointed out that minor crashed are not reported and suggested talking to neighbors. Michael said he will put up a website about the intersection and put signs up directing people to it. Barbara suggested positing to Nextdoor.com. Lisa said this was one of the least expensive project on the list and would make a key bicycle improvement. Don said he would be against it if it did not have a signal.

Dave made the following motion: SW Trails supports improvements at the Multnomah/Garden Home intersection to improve all modality safety. Lee second the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

Don talked about the Red Electric Trail and improved bike traffic on Barbur near Capitol. He showed a diagram of possible improvements at the Barbur/Capitol intersection. He said Metro has data showing that 3,000 bikers could use the route if the improvements were made. Don went over the rest of the Red Electric route. He said it would be good to have cooperation from BTA on it. Lisa said Barbur was one of the important issues for the BTA. She said ODOT’s cost estimates on the projects there seemed high. She said some of the improvements could be funded through the Southwest Corridor Plan but it would be nice to fund some project earlier.

Lisa said BTA is working hard with the Safe Routes to School project. She said that Metro will vote soon on funding Safe Routes to School program and asked people to contact Metro with their support.

Lisa said BTA will have a Bike More Challenge event in May.

Keturah made a motion to support Safe Route to School funding. Barbara seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

Hans said he met with Rich Newlands and Alexis Gabriel about the Southwest in Motion program. Hans explained the program which include future trail improvements. He said there are a lot of improvements on right-of-way that could be done. He said this is a way to get those projects going. It would be a much easier process than the PBOT trails process. Don said there are 100-200 connections in southwest that could be used. Don said Rich was worried about being overloaded with busy work and SW Trails could do a lot of the work. Lisa said it was hard to get people interested in small projects and it helps to include them with Safe Routes to School or Southwest in Motion programs. Don talked about extended shoulders. He said Maplewood Road was the first one constructed. They are now working on Stephenson.

Don said he got a note from Parks that said they would like to include SW Trail work parties with other work parties. He said he thought we should work on Parks trail not the trails that are not in the Urban Trail system as it might become too much. Dave said he thought we should not make this decision and see what we can do. He said it should not put restrictions yet. Chris said we do not need to tell Parks anything at this time. Don said he did not want to overload our volunteers. Dave said he talked to Mary at Parks and she is very willing to help us with outreach. Dave said it would be good to attract younger people to the work parties. Sharon suggested work parties on Saturdays. Hans pointed out that we can tell Parks that we cannot do more if we get over extended. Dave said both we and Parks have been flexible.

We discussed signage for work parties. Don displayed a sign in Himes Park from Friends of Terwilliger. Dave volunteered himself and Hans to work on the signs. Barbara asked if there should be a money limit and Don said he thought under $500 should be OK.

Don said he and Dave have been working on the trail at St. John Fisher. He said there would be a sidewalk on California. St John Fisher does not want to build sidewalks and instead build trails that would be ADA accessible.

Dave said he heard that there would be gravel at the 25th Safe Route to School site. Two permits will be issued but no one has seen them yet. Andrea explained how the gravel was procured. Dave said when the gravel appears, we will schedule a work party.
Membership: Barbara B. said that 5 people joined or renewed last month. Don said he got two more.

Social Media: Barbara S. said SW Trails is getting more like and she is posting information about SW Trails and walks. Don said there will be a video on the 4-T Trail.

Hikes: Sharon said Mark Turner will lead a walk on May 14. Hans will lead June and Lee will lead July. Don suggested visiting the old houses in Tryon Creek Natural area. Hans said he will ask.

Don said he did a walk around with two people from Homestead to look at the Capitol/Barbur area.

Don said he and Dave looked at the zoo crosswalk with people from PBOT. They were open to the idea but there is no funding. Don said signs were there but they were taken down. Don said the project started a few years ago and then it stopped.

Don showed a topographical map of the bridge at Boones Ferry. Fund has still not been completely identified.

Don said the date for the Metro trails symposium is June 22 from 11:30 to 3:00.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:

Work Party: Dave said the next work party will be on May 5. It will be on the 4T trail by Patten Road.

Respectfully submitted

Lee Buhler
SW Trails PDX
Monthly Meeting and Annual Membership Meeting Minutes

May 26, 2016

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

DRAFT

Attendance: Glenn Bridger, Virginia Hendrickson, Sharon Fekety, Hans Steuch, Keturah Pennington, Doug Rogers, Barbara Bowers, Rick Kappler, Michael Kisor, Matt Bihn Michaela Skiles John Gillam, John Gibbon, Lee Buhler

Glenn Bridger called to order at 7:02pm.

After introductions the agenda was approved with an addition of a letter about Capitol Highway and discussion of a SW Trails sign.

Matt Bihn of Metro discussed the SW Corridor Plan. They are getting ready to enter the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. They are trying to determine which pedestrian projects to include with the DEIS. They need to determine which projects could get Federal funding. They will also likely be a bond for the project. There will be sidewalks and bike lanes along the entire length of the project. They think that 45 percent of Barbur currently has sidewalks. They will complete the other sections and look at connections to stations. The connection to Marquam Hill is critical. After the Steering Committee votes they will go into the scoping period. It will start in August and end in November. The station locations could move a little but will probably be close to the current design. They will develop rough cost estimates. The DEIS is mandatory for Federal funding. The project funding from the Federal government is not assured. They would like to get feedback on the best pedestrian and bike routes to stations. There are advantages to not put projects in the DEIS such as projects that are cheaper and easier to build using funding other than Federal funding. Rick pointed out there were a lot of restrictions on the Fanno Creek project. Matt said some of the projects more expensive to study and build. Glenn said Federal projects have many people who are looking at the project and this costs more. John Gilliam said it can add time too which costs money. Matt said they are also concerned on how much total money the project takes. He said there are still funding mechanisms for projects that are not in the DEIS.

Michaela, also from Metro, talked about the project maps. She handed out copies of the maps and documentation. She displayed the Gibbs map and described it and the symbols on it. She asked people to point out things that they may be missing.

The group broke up into two groups to discuss the stations. Each group went over each proposed stations and discussed pedestrian and bike routes to that station.

The group reconvened. John Gilliam said projections show this light rail line would be a high ridership line. Matt said the blue line to Gresham would be the only line with higher ridership. Matt pointed out that it is a long line and will cost a lot of money. Michael said Bridgeport Plaza was a good destination. The goal opening date is 2025.

Membership: Barbara said four people joined this month. Two of the people don’t live in Portland.

Hiking: Sharon said Mark Turner lead a great hike in May. Hans will lead the hike in June. It will go through Riverview Natural area, Tryon and Lewis and Clark. Lee will lead the July hike. Sharon needs people to do August and September.

Signs: Hans showed a prototype sign. Everyone liked the sign. He said the sign could be put out a week or so before the work party so people can learn how to join in on the work party. He said it could be used in other ways such as our booth at fairs. Hans was able to get a good price for the signs.

Quail Park Trail: John Gibbon talked about the Quail Park trail project. He has talked to the City several times about the project. They may have to do an environmental review for one of the options that would be expensive. They are looking at other land they own. They would still have to do an environmental review but it would be less expensive. He said they have had substantial water bill increases and are worried about the costs. John said the current pathway is passable but it is difficult. He said it could cost $25.00 per foot.

Work Parties: The next work Party will be Thursday, June 2 in Woods park. An email was sent and there is a map on swtrails.org.

Capitol Highway Improvement Project: Glenn passed out a draft letter on Capital Highway improvements. He said it is an expensive project but worth it. He said half of the cost of the project is storm water. Glenn read some of the letter and talked about the project. Barbara asked if we had a quorum. Glenn said as there are five members and therefore we did.

Barbara moved that we send this letter. Sharon seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:58 pm

Respectfully submitted

Lee Buhler

SW Trails PDX
Monthly Meeting Minutes

June 23, 2016

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

DRAFT

Attendance: Don Baack, Virginia Hendrickson, Sharon Fekety, Hans Steuch, Keturah Pennington, Doug Rogers, Barbara Bowers, Michael Kisor, Keith Wymer, Lee Buhler, Barbara Stedman

Don called to order at 7:00pm.

After introductions the agenda was approved with addition of a discussion of the South Portland Health fair.

SW Corridor Project:

Don suggested adding trail 6 to Lake Oswego to the SW Corridor Projects. The group agreed that would be a good project to add.

MTIP Projects: Don said there was discussion at the SWNI Transportation Committee on MTIP projects. Two are in SW: one is on the Beaverton-Hillsdale highway and another was on Multnomah/Taylors Ferry/Vermont. Don asked if people preferred either. Most people thought the Beaverton-Hillsdale project is a higher priority. Don said the B-H highway project might have a better chance as it is on a high crash corridor.

Dave made a motion to summit a letter supporting the project on the Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway from 18th to 30th. Barbara B. seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

Stephenson Extended Shoulders: Hans read a letter from PBOT about the problems with the extended shoulder on Stephenson from PBOT. She said the project was not meant as a walking surface but a stormwater project. Patty said PBOT gave the neighborhood indications there would not be so many gaps. Sharon said the project with gaps is worse than not having the extended shoulders at all. Dave said he thought it was not done well as other extended shoulders. Patty said we should develop criteria for these projects. Patty said it would be better to put the swale between the cars and path. Doug said it seems the City is experimenting. Patty said if they cannot build it without gaps it should not be built. Michael said it seems that the City does not know what it is doing. Doug suggested expressing thanks for the efforts that have been done but say it is not enough. Don suggested asking that SW Trails propose a PBOT-BES Community task force to develop standards for extended shoulders. Keith said the plan should address things like the size of gravel as sometimes large gravel is put in to deter walking and biking. Don said he would contact other groups about joining us with pushing for better extended shoulders. Don said we need to get designers who know what they are doing. Don said he will write a letter requesting a task force on the project.

Membership: Barbara said one person joined this month. There was also one sponsor. Don said there may also be a $500 check in the pipeline from OHSU for a five year sponsorship.

Booths: SW Trails will have booths at Multnomah Days on August 20, SPNA Health Fair August 3. Don said he would see about a booth at the Hillsdale Farmer’s Market.

Southwest in Motion: Don passed around a paper to ask people to contact neighborhoods about the SW in Motion program and trail suggestions on unbuilt right-of-ways.

Trail Construction: Dave said 500 feet of trail was built in Albert Kelly park. It was done in just a few half day work parties. About 80 man and women hours. There will be a SWTrails/Parks work party on July 7th at 9-12 will be on the 4T trail. Meet at the Children’s Museum near the Oregon Zoo.

Trail Maintenance Agreement: Don has proposed several changes to the Park’s draft stewardship agreement for the coming year. He went over each one. Don said there has been changes in Parks Department management and he thinks it will be for the better. Don suggested adding language to more properly report accomplishments. Don suggested changing the grant application process to be the same for SW Trails and Parks. Don suggested adding that SW Trails may have more important projects than the monthly work party. Don suggested adding 7X9 step material. Don said people who have been trained on power tools should be able to use them. Don suggested that the group send him comments on the agreement by Sunday June 26th.

Hikes: Sharon said Hans lead a nice hike to the Riverview. Lee will lead the hike in July. It will go on the Tillicum and Sellwood bridges. It is 7.8 miles long but not much elevation gain.

Signs: Hans said the sign were put out in the project in Albert Kelly park. He will put out a sign on the 4T trail where the work party will be. The signs cost about $15.00 each.

. Sharon asked about the bench at the viewpoint along the trail under the Iowa I5 structure. We have $1,000 for a bench from AARP. Don said the new person with Parks will look at it. He said the money for Phyllis Townes bench went to a bench near were she use to live in the SWHRL neighborhood.

Arnold Creek Trail: Hans said there was a request for a zone change on part of the Coronado right-of-way. The neighborhood association is opposed to the change. Patty said she was worried that a P zone might be harder to put a trail on.

July Meeting: The July 28 meeting will be a potluck at Don’s house. He suggested having the president of the BTA come and talk about what they are doing and how we could coordinate with them. Sharon said they are expanding what they are doing. It was so agreed.

REI Grant: Don will talk with someone from REI about a grant for SW Trails. They are doing guided tours on the 4T trail. Keith said the REI used equipment will be going through the new REI outlet store Network.

Tryon Creek: Keith said there have been changes at the Tryon Creek Natural area, there is a new Park Manager. He said the adopt a trail program he started has worked very well. Keith said Phil Hamilton is still volunteering.

South Portland Health Fair: Lee made a motion that SW Trails supports and has a booth at the South Portland Health Fair on Wednesday, August 3. Dave seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:42pm

Respectfully submitted

Lee Buhler
SW Trails PDX
Board Meeting Minutes

August 1, 2016

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

DRAFT

Attendance: Don Baack, Glenn Bridger, Dave Manville, Sharon Fekety, Barbara Stedman, Barbara Bowers

Don called to order at 7:00pm.

This meeting was a working meeting for the SW Trails Board to work on a letter to the Portland Department of Transportation requesting a grant to work on trails in SW Portland. The final text of the letter is as follows:

August 1, 2016

Leah Treat, Director
PBOT
City of Portland
1221 SW 5th Avenue
Portland, OR 97204

Dear Commissioner Novick

SWTrails is pleased to work with you and your PBOT staff to develop a 5 year pilot project plan to address maintenance needs of the developed trail segments of the Urban Trail Network in SW Portland, and jointly work to expand our maintenance to other important trails now called demand trails also on a pilot project basis. We hereby submit for your consideration a draft of our proposed plan.

SWTrails recognizes that urban trails offer an important public value–providing increased pedestrian safety and convenience, with improved access to transit, work places, schools, shopping, recreational resources, and other essential destinations and services. Urban trails are also a low-cost alternative to traditional pedestrian infrastructure facilities, and are a particularly effective and beneficial transportation option in SW Portland where the topography and environment, particularly storm water management, make traditional pedestrian facilities prohibitively expensive. Being expensive in the current fiscal climate means we are not likely to see significant public investment in infrastructure in the near future.

SWTrails is dedicated to supporting the goals of Vision Zeroand is willing to play a strong role, by way of maintaining urban trails, in helping to make “PBOT’s transportation system, the safest possible to move towards zero traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries.” The Urban Trails and other key trail connections provide alternative pedestrian routes for the public to get around without having to walk on busy streets with no or poor pedestrian facilities.

SWTrails also supports the goals contained in Section 8 of the Comprehensive Plan that specifically supports “…the role of public rights-of-way in providing multiple public services…” and the need to “Establish, improve, and maintain a citywide system of public trails.” Also, with regard to ‘trail system connectivity,’ Section 8 requires that the city “Plan, improve, and maintain the citywide trail system so that it connects and provides access to Portland’s neighborhoods, commercial areas, schools, parks, natural areas, recreational facilities . . . and other key places that Portlanders access in their daily lives.”

SWTrails offers to form a partnership with PBOT to ensure that the existing segments of the Urban Trail Network are maintained to high standards for public use and safety to meet the city’s transportation goals as delineated in the Vision Zero statement and the Comprehensive Plan.

Also important, SWTrails asserts that many property owners adjacent to popular demand trails and urban trails are likely eager to have SWTrails assume maintenance of the trail segments in order for the residents to qualify for limited liability (“immunity for certain landowners) as contained in House Bill 2865 (ORS 105.668).

Attached hereto is our proposal that we believe will form the basis of a formal partnership agreement. SWTrails looks forward to working with you and PBOT staff to ensure that Portland’s Urban Trail Network becomes an even more important component of the city’s vision for safe, active transportation.

Sincerely,

Don Baack and SWTrails Board of Directors

CC: Leah Treat
Art Pearce
Michelle Marx
Alexis Gabriel
Erika Nebel
SW Trails PDX
Monthly Meeting Minutes

September 22, 2016

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

DRAFT

Attendance: Don Baack, Virginia Hendrickson, Dave Manville, Laurie Marzeli, Sharon Fekety, Keturah Pennington, Doug Rogers, Lee Buhler, Barbara Stedman, Debbie Small, Dale Sherbourne, Michael Kisor

Don called to order at 7:00pm.

After Introductions Don talked about traffic calming on Burlingame Ave. He said the City of Seattle reduced speed to 20mpg on all neighborhood streets.

The agenda was approved with a discussion of a project at 74th and Garden Home.

Laurie drew a map of the project at 74th and Garden Home. The street, 74th is not a through street except for a path. A development is proposed adjacent to the trail. There is a proposal to make 74th a through street. Laurie said many neighbors are worried about making 74th a through street. It is a very narrow street and steep. They are very concerned about safety. It would have a blind area. The county said there was no proof that there would be safety problems. The Garden Home Neighborhood Coalition was formed due to this problem. They have filed an appeal to the County’s decision. They want to designate the gap as a pedestrian/bike only route. They have a petition on nextdoor.com. Don suggested a field trip to look at it and then have a special meeting.

SW in Motion: Don said they discussed SW in Motion at the Hillsdale meeting. They made a map with all the connections they would like to see. Don displayed the map for the Hillsdale neighborhood. They identified about 18 connections. Dave went to the Southwest Residental League to identify connections there. They are working on it. He also did a map for Ash Creek. Dave found 27 connections for Ash Creek. Dave displayed the map for Ash Creek. Don said we should work with the neighborhoods to develop proposed connections for each neighborhood. Don handed out maps to people willing to contact people in those neighborhoods.

SW Corridor: Don handed out the scoping booklet and the Analysis of Additional Roadway, Bicycle and Pedestrian Routes. We discussed each of the projects in each of the neighborhoods. There were several suggestions for improvements on the proposed projects. We will also request some additions: the Slavin Road connection, Richardson, Seymour, Trail 6 near Capital Hill Road and Barbur and 25th from Troy to Multnomah. Lee motion to approve concept of changes and have Don and Dave write up a letter on the changes. Keturah seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

Work Parties: Dave said the next work party on October 6th will be in Albert Kelly Park. Last month we finished 150′ of trail in Gabriel Park. Don and Dave will negotiate with Parks on the stewardship agreement.

Hikes: Sharon said they had 21 people on the September hike. Don lead the hike to Lake Oswego. Dave will lead the October hike in the west part of Portland. Mark will lead November and Don will lead December.

Membership: Don said 22 people joined in August and there where six sponsorships.

Treasurer’s Report: Don said we are about the same.

Don read an update from Becky who is our new representative from the Bureau of Environmental Services. Dave said the BES rule that says all water must be contained on site makes the Capitol Highway project cost much more. He said there are nearby areas that would make nice ponds and riparian areas.

Barbara said there is not signage to direct people on bike in the area near Capitol and Terwilliger.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:42pm

Respectfully submitted

Lee Buhler
SW Trails PDX
Monthly Meeting
October 27, 2016

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

DRAFT

Attendance: Don Baack, Dave Manville, Sharon Fekety, Glenn Bridger, Hans Steuch, Barbara Bowers, Andrea Wall, Michael Harrison, Barbara Bowers, Virginia Hendrickson, Rob Wilcox, Doug Rogers

The meeting was called to order at 8:00pm. (The meeting was held an hour late due to a conflict with a SWNI Public Safety event.)

Treasurer’s Report: . The annual review of the books by Glenn Bridger and Hans Steuch was completed with no problems to report.

Southwest in Motion: We need to get approval from neighborhood associations that have a project in SW Trails recommendations for SW in Motion. The neighborhoods include South Portland and Homestead. Hillsdale approved the SW 25th re-vegetation project. Andrea Wall is working on it. At the first event 22 people came and cleared off a 70′ X 20′ area. They were awarded a grant and plan more events. The next one will be a bucket brigade on November 13th. They will also do native plant planting that day and on the 17th. Don asked if SW Trails should take on the maintenance of this project and let them use our email list. Most people were agreeable to the idea.

Hikes: Mark will lead the November hike and it will go to Raleigh Hills. Don will lead the December hike to Portland Heights.

OHSU Trail #1: Michael Harrison said there have been some problems on Trail #1 through OHSU. There has been vandalism. He said some laptops were also stolen. He said OHSU is a very open campus. He said they do not have official easements for some of the trail. He suggested keeping Salmon Lane as Trail #1 and move major public trail designations from Campus Drive to Terwilliger and Sam Jackson. The motion was approved.

Trail Work Parties: Dave said they did 150 feet of new trail in Albert Kelly park in October. The November work party will be leaf raking in Marshall Park.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:15

Sharon Fekety