KNA Board September 12, 2007
PRESENT
Board quorum: Aaron Gray (chair), Tim Lyden (vice chair), Brenda Ray Scott (treasurer), Susan Abe (secretary), Matt Svymbersky, Matt Hoffman, Kathy Armstrong, Doretta Schrock, Rich Watson
Plus: Havilah Ferschweiler, Penny Schumacher, George Lozovoy, Pam Arden, Lee Perlman, Ken Arbuckle, Ryan Pithel, Liz Callicott, Zhanna Houghtaling
CALL TO ORDER 7:07 p.m.
BOARD ACTION
Matt S. moves, Brenda seconds that we produce a letter of support, addressed to Sam Adams with copies to Tom Potter and Dan Saltzman, for the North Portland Greenway trail as part of the 40-Mile Loop.
Discussion: The purpose is to get the proposal on all the appropriate books so it's considered in all the relevant city planning discussions. Pam will draft the letter; Aaron will circulate via e-mail for review of the text before the October meeting.
Passes unanimously.
Kathy moves, Rich seconds that we ratify the letter Aaron wrote in support of Mary Hanlon's development of the City of Roses Motel site to the Kenton Condominiums as she applies for permits.
Discussion: When the topic was first raised via e-mail, Kathy (who works with Portland Community Land Trust) suggested that we include a request that Mary "explore reserving some units as permanently affordable for moderate-income, first-time homebuyers." There was general approval for the goal, but also a concern that including the matter in this letter would muddy the issue for the permitting officials to whom it's addressed. Instead, Mary met with Kathy and another woman, Allison Handler, of the PCLT to discuss ways to increase the permanently affordable housing stock in this and her other projects. Aaron presented a letter from Mary committing herself to working for affordability with PCLT and other organizations.
Passes unanimously.
Kathy moves, Brenda seconds that we approve the minutes of the July 11 meeting.
Passes unanimously.
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPDATES
Matt H. asks for somebody to replace him as the KNA Board's representative on the ICURAC (Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Advisory Committee) parks subcommittee. Tim L. accepts the charge.
Brenda says there are meetings scheduled Thu., Sept. 20, 6 to 8 p.m. at the University Park Community Center, and Thu., Oct. 11, 6 to 8 p.m. at the North Portland Library, for County Commissioner Jeff Cogen to get public input on the siting of a new Multnomah County Library branch, to be a leased space, 5,000 to 7,000 square feet with a foundation strong enough for a huge weight of books, roughly midway between the St. Johns (where Lombard bends toward the St. Johns Bridge) and North Portland (Killingsworth between Albina and MLK) branches.
The grassroots group Friends of a Lombard Library seems to have folded its tents a few years ago and hasn't yet spoken up in this process.
Rumor has it that downtown Kenton (possibly the Kenton Supply building or the old bowling alley) and University Park Community Center are high on the list of possibilities. The North Portland Chairs Network has endorsed a downtown Kenton site, largely at the urging of Hayden Island, Bridgeton and East Columbia, which often feel ignored by the city and whose residents find Kenton the most accessible part of the peninsula.
Brenda also asks for ideas for getting the word out about the process; most of the publicity so far has been online.
Pam says that state Rep. Tina Kotek will hold a town hall meeting in the Firehouse on Mon., Sept. 17, and that there will be a discussion of the fate of the Guard center at the same time at University Park Community Center. Take your pick.
Havilah, the North Portland Crime Prevention Coordinator, starts priming us for a neighborhood-wide graffiti abatement scrub-and-paint event like the one Arbor Lodge had in June (it was fun, too). She reports that her new office, in the Community Policing space on the first floor of the Masonic Lodge, is in operation and that her new colleague, La Shanda Hurst, is on duty. They'll be having an open house soon; they had been talking about Oct. 11 but will reconsider to avoid conflicts with the library siting meeting, which several board members plan to attend.
George reports that Parks hopes to have the wading pools replaced by splash pads at Kenton, Columbia and Peninsula parks by next summer. The Kenton Park design is for a concrete pad, crescent-shaped and hugging the rounded southwest "corner" of the sidewalk that runs inside the park. Colorful pipe structures will produce a variety of sprays, sprinkles and mists at the touch of a button, and shut off five minutes after the button is last pushed. The structures will be designed with the intent of attracting little and big kids to different areas of the splash pad, and the water will be turned off altogether from 7 p.m. to 9 a.m.
The catch is that, although such a splash pad costs about $45,000 if added to a project that has to bring the heavy equipment onsite and dig things up anyway, it's considerably more as a standalone. The plumbing, with connections to water and sewer on the south edge of the park, is a substantial job. Parks budgeted $90,000 apiece for the three sites and is bundling them and seeking more money in hopes of making a project large enough to interest a contractor. The wading pools, which require that somebody fill, chemically treat and drain them several times a day and still carry concerns of drowning and waterborne illness, are sufficiently problematic that Parks feels it's worth the hassle to replace them.
Brenda is putting off the question of the fiscal authority for the Firehouse again, in deference to the crowded agenda, but we will discuss it in October COME HELL OR HIGH WATER. The issue is that the Firehouse's revenue stream, through rentals and grants, is high enough to require a lot more tax paperwork than our other accounts. Currently the KNA Board holds responsibility for this, but it's not really a job suited for a volunteer Treasurer (no matter how diligent), so the actual work is handled largely through North Portland Neighborhood Services. NPNS can arrange to also handle the actual money through a 501(c)3 outfit it manages, North Portland Community Works (formerly the Kenton Action Plan), which would smooth out tax reporting and get the worries off our shoulders. We need to figure out if this would come with unwanted pitfalls and what steps to follow if we want to make the transfer.
DISCUSSION
CESAR E. CHAVEZ BOULEVARD
Aaron has been fielding calls about the Board's letter of support for the name change. He reminds his callers that the neighborhood association system is set up to be participatory democracy, not representative democracy (you must be present to say something), and that the letter, which is public record, states that it conveys the Board's support and does not pretend to represent the Neighborhood's, or anybody else's, opinion.
Penny is concerned that not everybody understood that, and asks that the Board issue a statement saying that the letter conveys the Board's support, not the Neighborhood's or anybody else's opinion. Aaron promises to get her a copy of the original letter to share with folks who seem confused.
Penny points out that the participatory model falls down if the neighbors don't find out that something they care about will be discussed until the minutes of the meeting are approved and posted on the website, sometimes months down the road if there isn't a quorum the next month. Aaron explains that it's not reasonable to post the agenda much before the meeting, because it's pretty well guaranteed to change up until the last minute, leaving people who'd thought they'd known the agenda in the lurch. Brenda recalls her fury with the Portland Public Schools officials who used "it might change" as a reason not to let her see the school boundary lines they'd drawn. Aaron offers to post, and keep updated, the spreadsheet list he maintains of requests for agenda time -- with a large and visible disclaimer that not all the listed topics may be discussed, and that others may be added --and it's agreed that this would be a useful step towards increasing the information in people's hands.
76 STATION, NW corner of Denver and Lombard
Zhanna is here as a liaison from the new owner, Nikolay Kalachik (he owns the business and is buying the land), who is in the early stages of developing a convenience store in the bays that were once used to service cars. This would serve people who currently try to race across Denver to the 7-Eleven and back, often not bothering to go to the corner and wait for the light, in the time it takes to fill their gas tanks.
At this point, he needs to apply for zoning that would allow him to get the permits to build the store space; an application for a license to sell alcohol would be a completely different process that would start after the store was in place. Doretta points out that the liquor license application would go through the OLCC, which is in the business of making money by getting people to buy as much alcohol as possible, so that any concerns about alcohol sales should be addressed at this stage, not saved for later.
Tim L. points out that this intersection is a principal entryway to the neighborhood and that three of its four corners are already occupied by establishments that sell alcohol.
Nikolay would like to open negotiations on a Good Neighbor Agreement, to be part of his zoning and permitting applications. Because his business plan is still in the earliest stages, Zhanna didn't have answers to a number of questions; she will get back to us on: hours of operation (is he thinking of a 24-hour operation?), parking arrangements, smoking on the lot, and whether there are plans to sell the kinds of large containers of cheap, high-alcohol malt beverages that are a problem with other establishments.
When those answers are in hand, the board will consider appointing a representative to GNA negotiations.
ADJOURNED at 8:59 p.m.
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