Take a Survey on a Potential New Charter School in SE Portland

We recently received an e-mail from Lynden Evans, who is with an organization called PHC Northwest. According to their website, PHC Northwest provides “broad-based educational, training and job opportunities (with full union benefits) for thousands of people with developmental, physical and mental disabilities”.

Lynden’s e-mail indicated that they are exploring the possibility of partnering with Portland Public Schools to open a charter middle school in SE Portland. They are currently in the public comment phase of the process. As part of that process, they have put together an online survey, and are looking for members of the SE Portland community to respond to the survey so that they can gather feedback. If you’re interested, you can take the survey here:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/M7XXY35

 

Opening for Citizen-at-Large on the Noise Review Board

We recently received an e-mail from the city about an opportunity to serve on the Noise Review Board. Read on for details.

Portland’s volunteer Noise Review Board currently has a  position the City is looking to fill.  One seat is open for a “Citizen at Large” community representative on the board.

The Board is comprised of five members including:  three citizen at large positions, a representative from the construction industry, and a professional in the field of acoustics.  Appointments to the volunteer Noise Review Board are made for a three-year period.

The Noise Review Board normally meets once a month on the second Wednesday evening of the month.  The Board is charged with making decisions on Noise Variances for projects that range from nighttime construction projects to large outdoor concerts.  The Board also works to develop long term objectives for achieving reduction of sound levels in the community.

If you have further questions regarding the Noise Review Board, contact the City’s Noise Control Officer, Paul van Orden at (503) 823-5829.  Interested parties are encouraged to file an official application for the City of Portland Noise Review Board and attend a Noise Review Board meeting (next scheduled meeting is February 8th, 2012 at 6 PM).  Applications can be acquired from the City’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement.   Completed applications should be filed by no later than Friday February 15, 2012 .

For applications please see the web at:
http://www.portlandonline.com/oni/index.cfm?c=38616

Or contact:
Kathy Couch, Office of Neighborhood Involvement
1221 SW 4th Ave Suite 110  Portland, Oregon 97204
Phone: (503)-823-3992    E-mail: kathy.couch@portlandoregon.gov

 

Change in City E-mail Addresses

For anyone who regularly communicates with city employees via e-mail, read on for some recent changes:

I’m sure most of you are aware of the fact that the City of Portland government e-mail addresses have changed and now use the new format:

Firstname.Lastname@portlandoregon.gov

What you may not have known is that up until December 1, 2011 the old city e-mail addresses (for example, @ci.portland.or.us) would forward, but after 12/1/11 they no longer do. So at this point it is very important to make anyone attempting to communicate with city staff via e-mail are aware of the new e-mail addresses. We encourage you all to spread the word concerning this to any persons or groups that you know of that communicate with the city in this way.

Below is an announcement that we posted on our ONI Website that you may wish to use all of or part of if you want to help us get the word out to interested parties you may be aware of.

UPDATE YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS BOOKS:

City of Portland e-mail address changes now in effect

Starting Dec. 1, 2011, City of Portland government e-mail addresses now use the format:

Firstname.Lastname@portlandoregon.gov

Examples of the old e-mail addresses that no longer work include addresses that end in:

• ci.portland.or.us
• trans.ci.portland.or.us
• portlandpolice.org
• pdxtrans.org

The City of Portland starting using the new e-mail address format in March 2010, but still allowed messages in the old address format to be received during a long transition period (March 2010 through November 2011).

UPDATE YOUR ADDRESS BOOKS

Individuals and neighborhood and community organizations that send emails to City of Portland leaders and staff should check their address books and e-mail distribution lists and update any addresses that still are in the old format.

Example:  One neighborhood district organization sends out a monthly e-newsletter through Constant Contact. After December 1, they found that all their mailings to city staff were bouncing back.

Update the City of Portland e-mail addresses in your address book to be sure your communications get through!

John R. Dutt
City/County Information and Referral Manager
503-865-2625

Liquor License Application: Dig A Pony

On Monday, December 6th, the BCA received notice of a liquor license application for an establishment in the Buckman neighborhood. Any comments or concerns with this application can be forwarded to Theresa Marchetti at Theresa.Marchetti(at)ci.portland.or.us or at (503) 823-3092, by January 6th, 2011.

Establishment: Dig A Pony

License Type: Applied under new ownership for a Full On premises sales license (which allows the sale of liquor, malt beverages, wine and cider for consumption on the premises).

Address: 736 SE Grand Avenue

Seating capacity: 90 (24 outside included)

Entertainment: Recorded Music, Live Music, DJ Music

Menu: NW Cuisine

Hours: Sunday – Saturday, 4pm – 2:30am

Getting Creative with Fire Station No. 7

Interesting article on the recently renovated Fire Station No. 7 at SE 11th Avenue & Stark:

The adjacent shop addition was completely revamped to become the new headquarters for Bremik Construction, while the original Fire Station has become home to a variety of companies, including a salon, a research and development group, a marketing company, and a designer of smart phones apps.

“There’s an authenticity of the history that’s also been reinvented too,” Emerick said. “I think that’s an appealing combination. And southeast is a hotbed of creativity. It seems a lot of the artists and the providers for the building trades have moved over. It’s funny: people look to places like South Waterfront for growth, but the Central Eastside is what’s interesting to me.  Part of the transformation is being driven by the changes in the industry itself. It’s still an industrial sanctuary, but most heavy industry isn’t able to use that kind of property effectively. Many of them have moved out to the ‘burbs. The B&O warehouse was full of artists working there without heat even before they renovated it.”

via Portland Architecture.

Liquor License Application: Rum Club

On Thursday, December 2nd, the BCA received notice of a liquor license application for an establishment in the Buckman neighborhood. Any comments or concerns with this application can be forwarded to Theresa Marchetti at Theresa.Marchetti(at)ci.portland.or.us or at (503) 823-3092, by January 2nd, 2011.

Establishment: Rum Club

License Type: Applied under new ownership for a Full On-premises sales license (which allows the sale of liquor, malt beverages, wine and cider for consumption on the premises).

Address: 720 SE Sandy Blvd

Seating capacity: 51 (12 outside included)

Entertainment: Recorded music

Menu: American contemporary

Hours: Sunday – Saturday, 4pm – 2am

Contemporary Art Center Coming to Buckman

For the last several years the Yale Union Laundry building at 800 SE 10th Avenue, a striking brick Italian Renaissance space built in 1908 and listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, has sat empty. But now, it is poised to become the major contemporary art center Portland has more or less lacked since the closing of the Portland Center for the Visual Arts closed in 1987.

Via Portland Architecture

Liquor License Application: 8-to-1 Store

On Friday, November 19th, the BCA received notice of a liquor license application for an establishment in the Buckman neighborhood. Any comments or concerns with this application can be forwarded to Theresa Marchetti at Theresa.Marchetti(at)ci.portland.or.us or at (503) 823-3092, by December 19th, 2010.

Establishment: 8-to-1 Store

License Type: Applied under a change of ownership to maintain the existing Off-Premises sales license, which allows the sale of beer/wine/cider to go in sealed containers.

Address: 2519 SE Belmont

Hours of Operation: 10:00am-11:00pm Mon-Thurs; 10:00am-12:00am Friday/Saturday; 10:00am-10:00pm Sunday

Entertainment: N/A

Food: N/A

BCA General Meeting: Thursday, November 18th

Please join the BCA tomorrow night for our monthly meeting. These are normally held on the second Thursday of each month, but we postponed it last week in observance of Veteran’s Day.

We will be meeting at Central Catholic High School, in the library, from 7-9pm. Central Catholic is located at 2401 SE Stark Street.

The agenda will include:

• Representatives from the State of Oregon, the Historic Preservation Office and the City of Portland, who will be answering questions about the ramifications of creating a historic district within the Buckman neighborhood.
• Representatives from Boora Architects and Central Catholic High School to talk about the planned expansion of the high school.
• A representative from the City of Portland Transportation Department to explain the new Leaf Fee.
• And more!

All are welcome and encouraged to attend. Also, be sure to check us out on Facebook. All the kids are doing it!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=50481109906

Next month we will meet on Thursday, December 9th, also at Central Catholic and also from 7-9pm.

And don’t forget, the BCA Holiday Happy Hour will be on Thursday, December 16th at the Globe Cafe (2045 SE Belmont) starting at 6pm. Come join us for holiday festivities!

http://www.globepdx.com

 

Tree Season

Friends of Trees is a local organization whose mission is to bring people in the Portland-Vancouver metro area together to plant and care for city trees and green spaces. Through their Neighborhood Trees program, homeowners buy discounted trees to plant with their neighbors at weekend plantings.

This year’s planting day is December 4th, from 7:30AM to 2:30PM. The group will be leaving from St. Paul Lutheran Church at 3880 SE Brooklyn Street.

The final day to order yard trees is November 21st. Anyone interested in ordering a tree or assisting with the plantings should contact Jeff Burns at jeff(at)organicmodern(dot)com, or visit the Friends of Trees website at http://www.friendsoftrees.org.

Holiday Shenanigans!

Mark your calendars! Your friendly local BCA members are planning a holiday happy hour on Thursday, December 16th, 6pm, at the Globe Cafe, located on Belmont just east of SE 20th Avenue:

http://www.globepdx.com/

Food, drinks…well, OK, you’ll have to pay for the food & drinks, but they’ll be good! And we’ll be there! Can the holidays possibly get any more joyous? Answer: no. Unless you get those socks you’ve really been wanting for Christmas.

Metro Grants Available For More Nature In The Neighborhood

Metro recently sent out an e-mail with information on a grants program that makes funds available for projects that aim to strengthen community by focusing on environmental issues. The text of the e-mail is below:

The liveliest cities and neighborhoods don’t happen by accident. We all have the ability to shape our communities through vision and leadership – but it also takes investment. Sometimes a little money is all that stands in the way of turning a good idea into a great project.

Does your favorite natural area need a little love?
Does your school need money for trips into nature?
Do you have an idea that will help local rivers and streams?

Metro’s Nature in Neighborhoods restoration and enhancement grants connect people to their neighborhoods, natural areas, backyards and beyond. We look for thoughtful projects that help strengthen the community, involve residents and deliver results. Proposals are accepted from nonprofits, or from an individual, business or group that has an agreement with a nonprofit fiscal agent. A pre-application is the first step. The deadline to submit a pre-application is 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011. Funding requests can range from $5,000 to $25,000 for hands-on activities and environmental education programs that protect and contribute to watershed health in the 25 cities in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties. Visit Metro’s website and review the program information packet for more details: http://www.oregonmetro.gov/grants.

New this year is the introduction of planning and project development grants. These grants are for organizations and community groups that need support developing partnerships to tackle bigger projects or that lack the financial and technical resources to develop proposals beyond the conceptual or master plan phase. Planning and project development requests can range from $5,000 to $15,000. Up to $30,000 total will be awarded for these proposals this year.

Don’t let the fear of grant writing be an obstacle. If you need help with your application, attend Metro’s free grant-writing workshop geared for first-time applicants. The two-hour session begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 13 and will include practical advice, examples of successful projects, time to network with others and much more. Contact Metro for workshop details and to reserve your place by calling 503-797-1834 or e-mailing kristin(d0t)blyler(at)oregonmetro(dot)gov.

This is your opportunity to bring a little more nature into YOUR neighborhood!

Rod Park
Metro Councilor, District 1
rod.park@oregonmetro.gov

Metro
600 NE Grand Ave.
Portland, OR 97232-2736
503-797-1700
503-797-1804 TDD
503-797-1797 fax

 

Smoke Alarm Giveaway Through November 30th

Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) is handing out free smoke alarms to owners of single family homes in Portland through November 30th.  As fire agencies statewide join together in support of the 2010 Fire Prevention Week theme, “Smoke Alarms: A Sound You Can Live With”, PF&R wants to reinforce the message that fire safety starts in the home.

“A critical improvement in fire safety that everyone should know about is that in addition to having a working smoke alarm on every floor, every sleeping area (bedroom) in your home should be outfitted with a working smoke alarm, and existing smoke alarms should be replaced every 10 years,” said Fire Marshal Erin Janssens.  “This could be the single most important step homeowners can take to significantly increase their chances of surviving a fire.”

Through November 30th, single-family home owners can visit any Portland Fire Station and receive needed smoke alarms free (for self installation).  To find a list of fire station locations in Portland, visit:  http://www.portlandonline.com/fire/stations.

Fire Prevention Week is observed annually throughout the United States, marking the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire.  This fire destroyed a four-mile long part of the city and killed 250 people on October 9, 1871.

Contact:  PIO Paul Corah, 503-940-6003

Goats!

You’ve probably noticed the furry friends grazing in the vacant lot at SE 10th Avenue and Belmont. They’re owned by Goat Rental NW of Damascus, and were hired by Vancouver realtor Killian Pacific – and their landscape company, GreenWorks – to clear the lot. BCA board member Adam Zucker recently took some photos of them doing what they do best.

Buckman Mural Photos

Local artist Joe Cotter is continuing work on the Buckman community mural on the south side of the Plaid Pantry building at SE 12th Avenue and Morrison. BCA board member Adam Zucker recently stopped by and captured some photos of Joe’s progress. Joe hopes to be finished soon (as in, before the heavy rains come).

New Leaf Removal Fee

Just a quick note to let you know about a new leaf removal fee that the City Council passed back in May. You can read about it here:

http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=47144&a=319617

Some quick notes about the new fee:

• The new fee will be rolled out with the next round of leaf sweeps, starting the first of November.
• As Buckman is within a leaf-removal zone, Buckman residents and property owners will be affected by this fee.
• The leaf fee bills will be sent out as stand-alone billings, and neighborhoods will be informed before the process begins.

Update To Meeting Location

Starting this month (October), the BCA general meetings will have a new location. Except it’s really an old location.

Confused? Don’t be. We’re just moving from Buckman Elementary School back to our former location, Central Catholic High School. The high school is located at 2401 SE Stark Street. Meetings will take place in the school’s library, from 7-9pm. It’s a great space, and we hope to see you there!

Meetings will continue to be held on the second Thursday of every month, with one exception. Thursday, November 11th, is a national holiday, so November’s general meeting with be held on the third Thursday, the 18th. The time and location will be the same.

Bikes for Students

We recently received an e-mail from a woman named Jenny Leonard who’s undertaking a pretty cool-sounding project to help out students in rural South Africa. Read on for more info…

PORTLAND TO SHOWER SOUTH AFRICA WITH OUR BEST OFFERINGS: DONATED BIKES AND A LOT OF HEART

Portland, Oregon – “Jenny’s got the ability to tell a truly compelling story,” begins Brooke Hunter of Career Services at Reed College, “and the commitment to move past her lack of experience to get the money in the door.”

When Jenny Leonard was studying abroad in South Africa in 2008, she met Mercy, a 16 year old high school girl who walked for three hours one way, every day, to get to school each morning. While this is the stuff of evening cable telethons, it was all new to Jenny Leonard who pledged that she would send hundreds of bicycles to South Africa, no matter how much work it took, to alleviate the transportation burden for impoverished school children.

After returning from Africa and earning her BA from Reed College, Leonard immediately started working towards her goal. She was completely new to fund-raising, but started her own Portland chapter of Bicycles for Humanity, an organization that neatly dovetailed with her goal. Over the past year Jenny raised $9,000 for a 40 foot shipping container large enough to send 400 used bicycles to an organization in South Africa which will distribute the bikes to needy school children in rural areas.

Now that fund-raising for the shipping container is complete, Leonard will dive into stage 2: a city-wide bike collection day on April 24 during the City Repair Earth Day Celebration at the old Washington High School on SE 12 and Stark from 10am-4pm. Jenny hopes to get the 400 bicycles in one day.

Jenny will be collecting used (but in good condition) mountain bikes, cruisers, parts, tools, bike accessories, and monetary donations. All donations are tax deductible to the full extent of the law. Various prizes and treats await good-hearted donors along with the profound feeling of donating sustainable transport to those who need it most.

Contact:

Jennifer Leonard, Bicycles for Humanity 925-354-1616, jennymleonard@gmail.com

Jessica Glenn, MindBuck Media PR Services 503-998-8770, mindbuck@gmail.com

Annual Kerns/Buckman Neighborhood Cleanup, 4/17/10

It’s that time of year again! Yes, time to scour your house for all that bulky waste and yard debris that you just can’t seem to get rid of.

The Kerns and Buckman neighborhood associations are teaming up once again to host the annual Neighborhood Cleanup. The date is Saturday, April 17th, from 9AM to 1PM. The location, as always, is the parking lot of the Jones-Kendall Building, located on East Burnside street at 26th Avenue. Click here for a Google map of the location.

If you’re not familiar with the event, it’s a great way to dispose of waste that is just too darn big to fit in your trash barrels or curbside recycling bins. With help from Metro, we recycle everything that can be recycled, and make sure that everything that can’t is disposed of properly. Examples of things we take include bulky waste, scrap wood, yard debris, appliances, tires, furniture, metal, styrofoam blocks, bagged styrofoam peanuts, batteries and computer/electronic equipment.

Unfortunately, some things are just a wee bit too toxic for us to handle. This includes things like hazardous waste, paint cans, or garden pesticides.

We collect donations on a sliding scale, based on the amount of waste you bring. It’s generally in the $5-50 range. A small price to pay for freeing up some space around your home and making sure you do it in an Earth-friendly way!

Are You a Friend of Trees?

Friends of Trees is coming to Buckman and the Central Eastside Industrial District. Buckman residents will have a unique opportunity to participate with their residential neighbors and businesses in a tree planting on December 5th.

The coordinators of Friends of Trees’ Buckman neighborhood planting invite you to help improve the quality of the neighborhood. You can support the neighborhood tree planting in one or both of the the following ways: purchasing trees for planting in the neighborhood, and/or actively participating on the day of planting.

And the best part: Friends of Trees is able to offer a discount for trees planted through this program!

• Street trees, planted in the right-of-way between the street and property line, start at $50 for residential customers.
• Trees planted on private property start at $70.

Friends of Trees staff will suggest locations for trees, obtain necessary permits for street trees, and coordinate locations with underground and overhead utilities. Property owners need only select the desirable tree from a pre-approved list, and provide enough water the first few years until roots are established.

Since 1989, Friends of Trees has been bringing people together to plant, care for, and learn about city trees. A hallmark of the non-profit’s work is its community-based model, which brings neighbors together and often inspires them to organize other projects to improve their neighborhood. Trees make our neighborhood greener and more livable. They provide numerous benefits, from cleaning our air and water, to conserving energy needed to heat and cool our buildings. They not only improve the value of our property, they actually improve the success of our businesses. Studies show that business sales increase at stores where trees have been planted.

To participate with Friends of Trees, please sign up at http://www.friendsoftrees.org. If you have questions, please contact the 2009 Buckman Neighborhood Coordinators, Jeff Burns or Sara Butcher, at buckmantrees@gmail.com or 503.531.6553.