Sewer Construction Update

Crews plan to work on alternate Saturdays, starting with August 1st. Please drive carefully and follow directions from flaggers.

This Week:

* Crews will continue installing new pipe on 14th between Burnside and Couch, and will be crossing Sandy early next week. Crews will then turn west and install pipe on Couch to 13th. The project also includes new pipe on Couch between 17th and 20th, but that work will be done later.

* Next week crews will start work at the intersection of 10th and Ankeny, installing a large new manhole structure. This work will likely close that intersection completely during work hours. Once this manhole is in place, crews will begin installing pipe and manholes northward to Davis. This is large concrete pipe and the work will affect through access on 10th Avenue in the block being worked on. We will work with local businesses and residents to maintain essential local access. In order to minimize the impacts to traffic on Burnside, Installing this pipe across Burnside will be scheduled for night or weekend work hours under a noise variance permit.

* The Portland Water Bureau will be working at 14th and Couch to finish up paving. REPEAT INFORMATION: The contractor has a staging yard at 12th and Taylor and is shuttling material and equipment between the yard and the work areas. Watch for construction equipment in the area and drive safely!

Work on the green street facilities (curb extensions and planters) on Ankeny Street between 16th and 20th is scheduled to start in August.

TriMet has detoured bus routes #19 and #20 off of Burnside between 28th and 12th. TriMet riders may board buses at temporary stops on Sandy and Glisan. For more information, see TriMet at: http://trimet.org/

David Allred
BES Outreach and Public Involvement Desk
503-823-7287

Bull Run Water Reservoir System

The email below is in regards to the proposal to cap the Mt. Tabor and Washington Park Reservoirs and build an unnecessary filtration plant. This would in all likelihood increase water rates and there is also a great deal of concern over how fair and open the public process has been around this  issue with the city council. City council is holding a hearing at 10 AM on Thursday to look further into this issue and possibly make a decision. Please consider attending if you are able, this affects  all the neighborhoods in Portland.

Neighborhood leaders,

I am writing to request that you or someone from your N.A. attend a city council hearing this Wednesday, July 29, 2000 in that your neighborhood wrote to the congressional delegation requesting their assistance in legislating protections for Bull Run. The Portland Water Bureau is pushing for a $385 million filtration plant that will forever negatively alter our drinking water, adding new unnecessary chemicals to our water and creating new risks.

We would very much appreciate your coming to this meeting and reading (or commenting on) the letter you sent to the congressional delegation. Community stakeholders want to keep the legislative option alive. More than 20 groups have written to the delegation seeking their assistance and you may have heard that Portland’s many craft brewers have recently gotten on board in that filtration will unnecessarily change the way our water tastes and in general will degrade our historically pure water for no public health benefit.

I’ve attached the Friends of the Reservoirs recent letter to City Council. You can find the Widmer Bro. letter to City Council at our website at www.friendsofreservoirs.org where you can also click on the background section to learn the sad history of  PWB/corporate involvement in this extremely flawed negotiated EPA LT2 rulemaking process.

You might also receive an e-mail on the same issue from Oregon Wild. Many groups and businesses are working together to protect our water, but with the Water Bureau pushing hard for a filtration plant as was recommended by a 2002 corporate-led Bull Run Treatment Panel (Montgomery, Watson, Harza Global 4-year Bull Run Treatment panel consultant contract)

Please feel free to contact me with questions.

Floy Jones
503 238-4649

>              THE FUTURE OF YOUR DRINKING WATER IS AT STAKE
>
>
> THE PORTLAND WATER BUREAU AND THEIR POWERFUL ASSOCIATES CONTINUE TO PUSH HARD FOR AN EXPENSIVE BULL RUN FILTRATION PLANT THAT WILL ADD MORE CHEMICALS AND CREATE MANY MORE RISKS.
>

>RISKS INCLUDE OPENING UP THE WATERSHED, GIVING AWAY OWNERSHIP OF BULL RUN SYSTEM, AND BLENDING BULL RUN WITH TOXIC WILLAMETTE AND COLUMBIA RIVER WATER.  WITH FILTRATION COMES BACKWASHING, SLUDGE REMOVAL AND DUMPING, SLUDGE REMOVAL COSTS, INCREASED STAFF AND RELATED COSTS, INCREASED RISK OF OPERATOR ERROR.

> We need YOU to come to City Council on Wednesday, July 29 at 10a.m. to speak out against selecting a filtration plant as the LT2 compliance option and speak in support of  alternative compliance. Legislated watershed protections are in place precisely so we can avoid building a filtration plant and the degradation of our water that comes with adding chemicals on top of chemicals on top of chemicals.  (Portland meets the federal criteria for filtration avoidance, something we are very proud of)

> This is the defining moment.  Will Bull Run water continue to be “the best from forest to faucet” or will the PWB force an unnecessary filtration plant, adding unnecessary chemicals, unnecessary costs, creating massive additional debt (much of the PWB budget is debt service), doubling your water bill in four years, adding new risks to the watershed and ultimately to our water, allowing the wholesale customers to become Bull Run owners as discussed in recent PWB/ wholesale customer closed-door meetings and outlined in the PWB/ Montgomery, Watson Harza Global document

Regional Transmission and Storage Strategy – (Regional Water
>> Providers Consortium.) http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=91392 . See page 6-2 Inter Gov. Agency Cooperative Agreement/ NO PUBLIC VOTE (recommended option) that would allow ownership to transfer and private company to operate, this sad document supports blending Bull Run water with the toxic river water from the Columbia or Willamette.)

>> HOW YOU CAN HELP
>>
>>
>>  Alert others, anyone who cares about protecting and preserving our
>> pure Bull Run water. This is the most critical action with regard
>> to the future of our Bull Run water.
>>
>> 1) Write to City Council now.  It is important that you write to
>> the Mayor and City Commissioners and their staff  now and say NO to
>> a filtration plant. Tell them you do not want the taste of your
>> water to change and you do not want chemicals added to your water.
>> Tell them you do not want any other entity to own Bull Run. Tell
>> them to vigorously pursue protective legislation such that all of
>> the ills of an additional Bull Run treatment plant can be avoided.
>> Tell them that you want your water to stay naturally pure,
>> unfiltered, inexpensively available  and sustainably safe, as it
>> has been for over a hundred years, with our present Bull Run system.
>>
>> 2) Attend the City Council meeting at City Hall on July 29 at 10
>> a.m, note that this is not a time certain hearing so there might be
>> a waiting period. Bring 8 copies of any written testimony or
>> information (for the record and to hold the city council
>> accountable) and note on the top of the document(s), Council Agenda
>> Item 1071   Tell Council to uphold their commitment to support a
>> legislative option (more on this later) and not thwart community will.
>>
>> Sam Adams samadams@ci.portland.or.us
>>
>> Tom Miller Tom.Miller@ci.portland.or.us
>>
>> Catherine Ciarlo cciarlo@portland.ci.or.us
>>
>> Randy Leonard  rleonard@ci.portland.or.us;
>>
>> Ty Kovatch  tkovatch@ci.portland.or.us
>>
>> Amanda Fritz amanda@ci.portland.or;
>>
>> Tim Crail tim.crail@ci.portland.or.us
>>
>> Tom Bizeau tom.bizeau@ci.portland.or.us
>>
>> Nick Fish nick@ci.portland.or.us ; Sam Chase
>> Sam.chase@ci.portland.or.us
>>
>> George Hocker George.Hocker@ci.portland.or.us
>>
>> Dan Saltzman <dansaltzman@ci.portland.or.us

>; Grumm, Matt
>> mgrumm@ci.portland.or.us
>>
>> 3)  Visit www.friendsofreservoir.org to read our letter to city
>> council and see the letter from Craft Brewers Alliance
>>
>> 4) Thank Senator Merkley for his efforts at (503) 326-3386.  He is
>> working on securing an extension for EPA timelines while seeking a
>> sensible plan that would avoid unnecessary costs of treatment (and
>> burying, covering and additionally treating the open reservoirs).
>> Many groups including businesses, neighborhood coalitions,
>> environmental groups and democracy groups have written Senator
>> Merkley in support legislating alternatives that will allow us to
>> retain our open reservoirs and protect our source water from the
>> unnecessary degradation of these LT2 projects.
>>
>> Don’t let big money, big bureau construction plans and big budgets
>> undercut citizen involvement, double water rates and rob us of our
>> pure Bull Run water!
>>
>> If you love Portland’s pure water and want to protect it, please
>> act now to help us  keep it naturally pure, unfiltered,
>> inexpensively available and sustainably safe, as it has been for
>> over a hundred years, with our present Bull Run open reservoir system.

Liquor License Application: Duke’s Landing

The OLCC received an application for a Full On-Premises Commercial license at the following address:

Duke’s Landing [Sandy Cover Foods Inc.]
2715 SE Belmont
Portland, OR 97214

The license allows a licensee to sell wine containing not more than 21% alcohol by volume, malt beverages containing not more than 14% alcohol by volume, cider containing not more than 10% alcohol by volume and distilled spirits by the drink to patrons on the premises.

The license allows any form of legal entertainment. The legal hours to sell alcohol in the state of Oregon are 7:00 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. daily. The applicant’s proposed hours of operation are 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m., 7 days per week.

The applicant will have food service consistent with OLCC regulations.

The applicant proposes to have live music, DJ’s, Karaoke, Coin-Operated Games, Video Lottery, Social Gaming, and Pool Tables.

If you wish to provide the Commission with factual information concerning whether there is a basis to grant or deny this license under the OLCC’s licensing standards, please write the OLCC at the following address:

OLCC
c/o Eric Hildebrand, License Investigator
P.O. Box 22297
Milwaukie, OR 97269-2297

or contact via Mr. Hildebrand via phone at 503.872.5197 or contact the Buckman Community Association.

Responses are requested by July 26th so the OLCC can process this application in a timely manner. The OLCC will share your information with the applicant, make it a part of the public record and consider it when making a final decision.

Review Of Public Art Notice – Farm Cafe Mural

Regional Arts & Culture Council – Meeting Notice

Meeting Name: Public Art Advisory Committee
Meeting Date: Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Meeting Time: 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM
Location: Regional Arts & Culture Council Board Room, 108 NW 9th Avenue, Room 202

The public is invited to attend and comment at this review of a mural by the Public Art Advisory Committee of the Regional Arts & Culture Council.
Please reply to Cheryl Norton at cnorton@racc.org if you will attend.

Notice of Review of Public Art Mural Application for: The Farm Café

The proposed mural location is at 10 SE 7th Avenue. The proposed mural is composed of a farmer tilling the paved land of a 20th century city, transforming it into a renewable, sustainable urban farm community. It reflects not only the goals of The Farm Café to promote local, sustainable farming, but of the greater Portland community’s goal for green living throughout the city.   Located in a highly developed part of town, the mural will bring more color and interest to the site, as well as contribute to the continued growth of the cultural and economic significance o f the neighborhood.

Reflections On Liquor Licensing Forum

I attended the Liquor Licensing Public Forum on June 29th at the Portland Building. The forum was comprised of a panel of folks from the OLCC and various city departments, taking questions from the audience about liquor licensing issues. As you might imagine, it was a rather fiesty event. Though the number of attendees was not large (in the range of 20-30), many in the crowd were quite vocal. There were a few people there who had clearly expended a fair amount of time and energy dealing with licensing issues in their neighborhood. It seemed to be the consensus among these people that the OLCC was effectively (as one attendee put it) a “rubber stamp regime”. The response the came back from the stage was that the OLCC are regulators, and in most cases, their hands are tied by the laws against which they must regulate. They urged citizens to talk to their legislators if they feel there are holes in the statutes.

For example, one of the big topics of conversation was saturation; e.g., licenses being given out for a preponderance of establishments in a relatively small area. There were several folks there from Hayden Island for whom this was a particularly hot topic. They claim that, on an island with a population of 2200 people, there are currently 22 bars. The OLCC’s response was that, while the statutes did once include a saturation clause, that was taken out some time ago. The OLCC can now not take this sort of thing into account when deciding on licenses. The representatives from the OLCC urged people to take this issue up with their legislators. Their message was, “help give us the tools to fight on your behalf”.

However, many in the crowd seemed to feel that the OLCC actually has more leeway and discretion than was being communicated. Some expressed frustration at the apparent disconnect between the OLCC’s own mission statement – which talks about protecting things like “neighborhood livability” – and what sorts of things the OLCC is willing/able to regulate.

I was somewhat surprised by the level of frustration and passion I saw on display last night, which went beyond anything I’ve personally encountered in my two years trying to fill the role of Liquor Committee. It occurred to me that one of the difficult things about these kinds of issues is that, in some cases, the people fighting them must feel really alone. For example, there was a young couple there that own a house next to a bar with an outdoor patio. They’ve lived next to the bar for about 7 years, but the patio is a more recent development (about 2 years ago). They received no notice that the bar had filed for an Extension of Premises on their license; their first notice was when construction started on the patio. Since then, they’ve been fighting to do something about it, and have gone as far as to retain a lawyer. Their frustration was evident; in the meantime, people living a block away may feel little or no impact from the situation.

The evening made me think about the role of neighborhood association Liquor Committee. It’s never been entirely clear to me what neighborhood associations can do to best address or head off situations like the kind that were brought up last night…..

Eric O’Connor

BCA Board Member

Portland NAs In The Oregonian

The link below is an interesting article about neighborhood associations in Portland.

Portland’s neighborhoods associations flex their muscles.
Oregonian story July 2, 2009, presents a look at five neighborhood associations — and the people behind them — that are seeing a resurgence of interest.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/07/portlands_neighborhoods_associ.html

Public Comment On Streetcar Concept Plan

The Portland Bureau of Transportation has released a draft of the Portland Streetcar System Concept Plan, available at http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/streetcarsystemplan.  It identifies high priority and other potential future streetcar routes in Portland.

As it pertains to Buckman, there is a priority route from downtown heading out Belmont to 39th, then south to Hawthorne to 50th.  Hawthorne is a potential alternate route.

The 45-day public comment period on the plan runs until August 14th (comment forms are available online at the link above), so please review it and make comments if you have an interest in (for, against, or neutral) the streetcar and the possibility of a line through Buckman.   On August 11th, the Portland Planning Commission will hold a hearing on the plan and it will go before the City Council on September 9th.

East Burnside Couch Couplet Project Open House

The Portland Bureau of Transportation is hosting a public open house regarding the upcoming Burnside Couch Couplet construction.  The open house will be Wednesday July 22, 2009 between 5:00-8:00pm at the Jupiter Hotel – DreamBox (800 East Burnside Street; TriMet Access via #12, 20 or 19).

Drop by anytime between 5:00-8:00pm and you will have an opportunity to learn about the construction staing and scheduling and Portland Bureau of Transportation staff and the project design team will be available to answer your questions.  Construction is anticipated to begin at the end of August.

For more project information, visit www.portlandonline.com/transportation and search East Burnside / Couch Couplet.   If you have questions, please contact Chris Armes, Project Manager, at 503-823-7051.

Composting Site In Full Swing!

Congratulations to everyone who took part in developing our first composting site. The bins are set up and neighbors are already bringing vegetative kitchen scraps to the site.

The first batch of compost was put into the tumbler at the end of June and as of July 9th, the first batch of compost in the tumbler has completed two weeks. It will be interesting to see how many days (weeks or months) it takes to get finished compost. Will keep you informed!

The two main issues for the Community Compost Site are size of pieces and state of decomposition. We have had overly large items – melon rind, whole potatoes, etc. and stinky sludge added to the bin.

The message is – Cut it, crush it or smash it – smaller is better; and IF IT SMELLS, BAG IT AND TRASH IT!

We have added two items to the NO, NO list – avocado seeds and big pieces of avocado skin.

People are coming from all over Buckman with their compostable kitchen scraps — keep it coming and Thanks!

Update On Portland Plan

Dear fellow Portlander,

Thank you for your interest and participation in the early phases of the development of the Portland Plan.

As director of the new Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS), I am truly excited about the opportunity to develop a plan that promotes a healthy, prosperous and environmentally sustainable community. A quality plan absolutely must have the involvement of a broad base of Portland residents and businesses. To that end, I am writing you to bring you up to date on the Portland Plan.

The Portland Plan process started two years ago and built on the important work done through visionPDX. Through that effort, an impressive amount of information was gathered. Much of that can be reviewed in the Community Input Summary, which captures 17,000 comments from a wide variety of Portlanders and is available online at http://tinyurl.com/inputsummary. We also developed the Portland Plan Outreach Chronicles to summarize what we heard during the public meetings and summits in May and June 2008 (http://tinyurl.com/outreachchrons).

More recently, Mayor Adams appointed a Community Involvement Committee for the Plan. This committee was formed to help design and monitor the public involvement efforts for the Plan. The committee will met for the first time today, July 8, 2009. In addition, at least two other advisory groups will be established to provide advice on the content of the Portland Plan and Central City Plan. Members for these committees will be drawn from the Mayor’s cabinets and other organizations to evaluate the technical work of staff.

Over the next three months, BPS staff, under the leadership of Chief Planner Joe Zehnder, will provide background information on key trends, conditions and issues facing Portland. This information will be available by mid-August and then be merged with provisional citywide goals and indicators in a Baseline Report due out in September.

Later this fall, Portlanders will be able to roll up their sleeves and work with each other to develop components of the Portland Plan. BPS will hold a series of community workshops where you will be able to discuss key issues and test “what if” scenarios that help describe the characteristics of the Portland you want to see in the future. I hope you will join us at these workshops and bring your neighbors, friends and coworkers to these events. The more people you bring along to participate, the more the Portland Plan will be a true reflection of our community.

As we move forward with the development of the Plan, I will send out quarterly updates and you can visit the BPS website any time for news or information at http://www.portlandonline/portlandplan.com.

So stay tuned, and stay involved. Your participation is essential.

All the best,
Susan Anderson
Director
Bureau of Planning and Sustainability

July 14th Washington HS Meeting Location Changed

The Portland Park Bureau announced today, Friday July 10th, after 5pm that the next Washington High School Community Center Committee meeting scheduled for June 14th, 6pm at Matt Dishman has just been moved to Southeast Uplift, 3534 SE Main St.

The reason for the last minute change was given as lack of meeting space at Dishman.  The meeting will focus on approving project objectives and meeting with the architecture team (SERA), as well as hearing about the public outreach products.  There will be no designs at this early date.  A future 2nd open house for the project is planned for early August.  Date and time will be published as soon as details are finalized.

Land Use Notices for Buckman

Neighbors wanting to find out more about proposed development in their community, have only to go to the City of Portland Development Services website and search under your neighborhood for notices. Often development that causes changes that might impact an area, fall under “design review”, or call for specific code adjustments has to go through a land-use review. Neighbors can submit comments as well as concerns and suggestions to development services staff. Also, the BCA can assist residents with their concerns and can file an appeal on a decision with a waived fee.

Feel free to contact the BCA with your land use questions or to register concerns on proposed developments. Click the link below to keep abreast of proposed building plans in your area. http://www.portlandonline.com/bds/index.cfm?c=35625

July Meeting

The July BCA meeting will be held Thursday July 9th at 7pm  in Room 206  of the Hinson Baptist Church, located at 20th and SE Salmon; please enter on the Salmon Street side.