January 2005 Meeting Minutes

-DRAFT-

Monday January 24th, 2005

Board Meeting

Called to order at 6:02pm

1. Secretary – no report
2. Treasurer
        a. Renewal Notice for Incorporation requires us to submit an annual report in addition to the $50. We were able to receive an extension in order to complete the annual report. (Completed form during meeting)
        b. The Bank also requires an annual report when the chair and treasurer change. (Completed during the meeting)
        c. New balance $987.43
        d. Requests that creating an annual report be included in our standard process (post-elections).
3. Chair:
        a. Portland Dept. of Transportation is giving free classes on Urban Renewal Areas, Development and Land use. It is a 10 week course. There will also be another class on Traffic and Transportation sometime in the future. Signup sheets are available.
        b. Feb. 17th there is a meeting regarding noise and the airport. It will be held at the Jantzen Beach Double Tree Hotel from 6:30 to 8:30.
        c. Feb. 19th is the Art on the Peninsula Art Supply Swap and Sale. It will be held at the Kenton Firehouse. You can sign up to sell your used art supplies or simply donate them to schools. Contact Mary at 503-823-4099.
        d. Graffiti – We have info about free graffiti removal. If your property has graffiti on it you are required to remove it within 10 days. There is a hotline to report graffiti and request its removal – 503-823-4824.
        e. North Portland Online Neighborhood Watch Website. Variety of info for North Portland residents including bulletin boards, contact info, business offers and more. Website = www.portlandonline.com/northportland
        f. University Park is now eligible to participate in the North Portland Tool Library. The tools are located in the basement of the Kenton firehouse and can be checked out my residents of University Park and other North Portland neighborhoods. Visit the website for a list of tools available. www.northportlandtoollibrary.org

4. Info from Tom from NPNS:
        a. The North Portland Trust Fund application will be available Feb. 1st. The fund has a total of $30,000 to be given out as small grants. Grants requesting $500- $1500 are most likely to be awarded and the only requirement is that the money involves doing something for the community. The deadline will be March 1st and the money will be awarded in April.
        b. The neighborhood cleanup day is coming up, the 3rd Sat in April (the same day as Earth Day). We will need to advertise the cleanup and find volunteers.

5. Committee Chairs Reports:
        a. Bylaws: Will review updated copies of the bylaws at the General meeting.
        b. Communications: No report. After meeting will arrange a time to meet with committee members this month. Note – If anyone would like something to be posted on the website email or call the Secretary and she will add it to the site.
        c. Environmental & Open Spaces: Cathy is absent. Fletcher: Friends of Trees next planting is March 16th. Call 503-282-8846 or go to their website, www.friendsoftrees.org to request a tree and volunteer to help plant trees in your neighborhood.
        d. Land Use: There will be a regional land use quarterly meeting coming up but the date is not yet known. Will contact Secretary when date is known to be added to the website. There will also be a St. Johns /Lombard St. Plan meeting soon.
        e. Livability: (Fletcher)
                 i. There will be a Farmers Market coming to North Portland starting on May 18th. It will be every Wednesday at the Kaiser Permanente on Interstate. The exact location is still being worked out. We will keep you posted.
                 ii. There is a meeting to view the possible Community Campus as part of the New Columbia Villa. January 29th at Portsmouth Middle School from 10am to 1pm.
        f. Transportation:
                 i. There was a community sponsored speed bump program where the city helps to pay for the addition of speed bumps (in addition to the neighbors). The deadline is past but it is something to consider for the future. There were 3 locations in our neighborhood, 1) Woolsey between Lombard & Willamette 2) Wall between Lombard & Willamette 3) Van Houten between Lombard & Willamette.
                 ii. The University of Portland is discussing with FlexCar to have a car located on campus. If people are interested we could have a speaker come and talk with us about their program (yes). Scott will coordinate the speaker for March.
        g. Public Safety: At the monthly meeting the increasing number of car burglaries was discussed as well as the continued drinking problem in St. Johns.
        h. Schools:
                 i. Brian met with Jim Kuffner from U of P to discuss an annual meeting with the President of UP and the board members of UPNA. Would like to have the meeting after the elections and goal setting each year, either in October or November. But they would also like the current board to meet with the President so Brian proposes having the February Board meeting with the President and the General Meeting on campus at UP (but not the same location as the board meeting / dinner).
                 ii. Brain motions to vote on holding the Feb. meeting at UP. Seconded by Judy. Discussion:
                        1. Paul is concerned that UP is not the only business in UPNA and that other neighborhoods have a disconnect between the businesses and the neighborhood association. He doesn’t want to see that happen.
                        2. Brain states that his focus is to build a stronger relationship with the school and expanding our relationships with businesses is important that is not what he is focusing on. Working with businesses can be discussed at a later time.
                        3. Dwayne comments that UP has been involved with UPNA for a long time and this is an offer from them that we should accept.
                        4. Shelley adds that it is in our goals to improve our relationship with UP and that she has personally been contacting the businesses in the area and giving them her info.
                        5. Fletcher comments that dealing with the businesses in our area is more of a livability issue and should be addressed by them.
                        6. Karen adds that indeed UP is the biggest employer in our area but also has a big effect on the neighborhood.
                        7. It is stated that UPNA will advertise the new location of the Board and General Meetings for Feb. The Board meeting will start at 5:30 and the General Meeting at 7:00.
                        8. Vote: 7 in favor. Motion passed.

6. Old or New Business? None.

Meeting Adjourned at 7:01pm

General Meeting

Called to Order 7:09pm

1. Introductions of Board Members
2. Crime & Safety Update ( from Officer Jason Christensen)
       a. Map Handout of neighborhood with crimes from Dec. 24th to Jan. 23rd.
       b. There was a car chase on Portsmouth. It started with a routine traffic stop but escalated. The car drove down Portsmouth and crashed into a fire hydrant at UP. The 2 men in the car ran down to the river but were caught by the police. There was a large amount of crack in the car, approx. $15,000 worth. The men will go to jail and can serve up to 20-25 years.
       c. There has been a suspicious car seen on N. Yale street early in the mornings, it is a beige Toyota Camry. Has anyone seen him? (No). Often drug deals happen quickly when they agree to meet at a certain location. People usually drive up go to a door or window and then drive off.
       d. The vehicle thefts tend to be of Honda or Toyotas and the thief uses filed down keys to start the car (does not have to break windows). There are not a lot of arrests or jail time with vehicle thefts.

3. University of Portland Update from Jim Kuffner:
       a. Thank Brian for meeting and will arrange the location of the February meeting to be held at UP.
       b. Update that the URA (for Swan Island) did not include the Zeidel property. UP is still discussing purchasing the property from Zeidel. Will continue to give us updates on the status.
       c. Neighbor Night, Jan. 13th was very successful.
       d. Will be working with UPNA to update the link to UP's website to link to the community or calendar pages.

4. Bylaws Presentation - Review of changes to bylaws prior to approval
        a. The bylaws have been updated to follow current practices and laws. Will review each section, the handout states the old text, the suggested updated text and a summary of the main items changed for each section. A majority of the changes were to the layout, fixing grammatical problems, or clarifying definitions. The items listed below are in addition to the changes in the document:
             i. Article II, section 3, change wording from months to meetings.
             ii. Regarding the approval of minutes. Comments requesting that the minutes be made available to the minutes. No one in particular has approved them in the past, it's been up to each chair. Should the minutes be approved before being posted? No, we will post them but add "DRAFT" so that they can be reviewed and then approved at the next meeting (or updated if errors are found). Also, all minutes, agendas and handouts from previous meetings are available from the Chair or Secretary. Note- the board meeting minutes are approved by the board and the general meeting minutes are approved by the general attendees.
             iii. Discussion of the methods for agendas to be distributed to members. It is up to each member to request a certain method from the Chair (mail, email, phone etc...).
             iv. The wording for the definition of the Grievance Committee needs to be clarified. The Chair is elected at the annual elections (same as other committee chairs) but the other members are not appointed until a grievance is filed.
                      a. Question from George: Does a general member have a right to know who the grievance is filed by and if they seek legal counsel? How are the rights of the members protected? Will they be able to request their own legal counsel? Answer: Yes, the general membership will be alerted to a grievance if it is filed and who has filed it. It is not likely that we (UPNA) is able to demand that the grievant tell us if s/he has sought legal counsel (unless they tell us). But a general member does not have the right to be a part of the grievance procedure. It is up to the committee and the person who filed the complaint to come to an agreement and if they cannot it would go to mediation. There should never be a need for other members of the association to require legal counsel. Brian will do more research to see if there is more info available on grievance procedures and the issues regarding hiring attorneys and report to us next month.
             v. The members have an opportunity to review the bylaws and the updates. If anyone has suggestions for amending the bylaws give a written update to Brian prior to the next meeting. The bylaws will be voted on at the February meeting.
5. Old Business? None.

6. New Business:
       a. Judy: Received a letter from the Peninsula Optimist Club thanking us for our dedication to the group.
       b. Fletcher:
            i. Friends of Trees next planting is March 16th. Call 503-282-8846 or go to their website, www.friendsoftrees.org to request a tree and volunteer to help plant trees in your neighborhood.
           ii. There will be a Farmers Market coming to North Portland starting on May 18th. It will be every Wednesday at the Kaiser Permanente on Interstate. The exact location is still being worked out. We will keep you posted.
           iii. There is a meeting to view the possible Community Campus as part of the New Columbia Villa. January 29th at Portsmouth Middle School from 10am to 1pm.
       c. Brian: (schools)
          i. Governor is considering lowering the slot machine rates from 29 to 25% (cost & maint. = 10-15%). Currently 10% of lottery money goes to schools.
          ii. The new budget has not been announced yet, will let you know about the school funding soon.
          iii. Requests help from members on information, history and stories about the schools in the area to add to the UPNA website.
          iv. Chalkboard Project is an independent group collecting data from the community to give to the local government regarding schools. They have a questionnaire about how to improve schools. Visit their website, www.chalkboardproject.org
          v. Will announce to the community and call individual members of the location for the February meeting that will be held at UP.
       d. Shelley: University Park is now eligible to participate in the North Portland Tool Library. The tools are located in the basement of the Kenton firehouse and can be checked out my residents of University Park and other North Portland neighborhoods. Visit the website for a list of tools available. www.northportlandtoollibrary.org. Also, there will be a speaker at the March meeting from FlexCar. If members have other interests and would like to discuss possible speakers, please let Shelley know. Rep. Hansen has expressed interest in coming back to talk to us if people are interested (yes).
       e. Mark (general member): Was on the committee for the Bureau of Environmental Services to choose an engineering firm for construction of the Big Pipe through North Portland. Learned that there are 4 options for where to place the pipe: 1) Around the bluff. 2) Under the University of Portland 3) Under Willamette Blvd. 4) Under Princeton / Amherst. The 4th option seems more likely. If they run the pipe at a shallower depth then they will have to close off blocks one at a time to run the pipe. Part of the contract states including the neighborhood and community in the discussion and planning process.
       f. Dennis (general member): Lives in the neighborhood and also is responsible for cleaning up the neighborhood of trash and removing graffiti. Currently covers all of the peninsula from I-5 west. Drives the golf cart each day from 3-6am. In the past Union 76 matched funds donated from the Peninsula Optimist Club but they no longer do that. Gets grants from Metro for chemicals but needs money to pay for gas and upkeep of the carts. Wonders about the finances of UPNA and if there is a possibility that they could donate money for gasoline. UPNA requests a written request from Dennis stating what he does, and the amount of money needed. Will be addressed at the next meeting. (It is possible that if UPNA receives a grant from the N. Portland Trust fund, some of the money could go to Dennis).

Meeting Adjourned at 9:00pm