a. New Columbia opening (flier with walking map), Phase 1 is complete. Some houses for rent, some to buy, plus 5 parks one with a community garden (McCoy Park), 4 are pocket parks.
b. PDC Quarterly newsletter to share.
c. Darcy’s Restaurant is being sold. The OLCC sent a request for comments for the new owners. Q on do we know who bought it? Article in In & About mentioned new owners name. Fletcher offered to call and find out who bought it and what their plans are. Dwayne: suggest for all OLCC changes that we contact owner and offer to have them come to a meeting and talk to us. Make this a standard procedure. Agreement from group. Fletcher will call and find out.

1. Communications: Karen is absent. Ana – discussion for summer event date.
2. Environmental:
3. Land Use: none
4. Service. Traffic & Livability: chair absent.
5. Public Safety: (Ana for Judy)
6. Schools: none

a. Talked to Judy Chambers today. University purchased their property on Willamette. She was very appreciative of our recognition for her service.
b. Issue raised before about high school commencements and parking issue. Discovered that the contract with the schools does have clear info on parking with recommendations for parking on campus and not in the neighborhood.
c. Update on talks with Zidell, are at the 12th revision of the contract and are very close to coming to agreement and signing. Gives the University 18 months for due diligence (with 2 phases). Allows time for discussing with the city about what is possible with the property (zone changes, liabilities about pollution, possible environmental concerns, transportation). By January 1st of 2006, can decide to continue discussion through Dec 2006. Also the University has had friendly discussions with DEQ and EPA to also purchase the McCormick and Baxter site. Would allow for expansion over the next 100 years. Would also discuss and incorporate open space ideas, environmental concerns etc… The discussions are to early to say what the outcome may be but the possibility is very exciting.

 i. Q from Dwayne. What is the farthest away high school that will be having services here. A: not sure, in the past Hillsboro and Oregon City as well as others within the city.
 ii. Q from Paul: What type of zone changes for Ziedell site? A: Up to the city, but the one that appeals to us, that allows for mixed use, is EG2. Allows university usage, some industrial, residential. Appealing because of it’s multiple uses. That’s what were looking at now.
 iii. Q from Paul: next master plan would include the triangle property? A: yes, once zone change is decided would amend the master plan. (Q: not have a new one?) If the city said they needed one they would but should be able to just update the one we have now.

a. Mikell O’Mealy (DEQ-503-229-6590), Kevin Parrett (DEQ-503-229-6748) (manager for site). Review of Portland Harbor.
b. Strip of Willamette River is contaminated because of past chemical dumping. It is long lived contamination. It’s our job to make it clean and safe for animals & people. From Freemont bridge to Sauvie Island, was declared a superfund site. Working with property owners, tribes and citizen groups to begin the cleanup.
c. McCormick & Baxter is within the Portland Harbor site. Was already a superfund site (before the Harbor). Now in the final phase of the cleanup. Very excited about turning over the property for a beneficial use.
d. Unusual to have 2 superfund sites so close and very uncommon to have one inside the other. Has caused some challenges but because they had already started on a cleanup it has allowed them to continue smoothly. Soon will be finished with construction and cleanup. Then go to long term plan – future use. EPA funds 90% of cost. DEQ funds 10%. Once in long term phase, DEQ is then responsible that the remedy is maintained forever. Would be able to work with future owners to have them do some maintenance but the DEQ is still ultimately responsible.
e. Showed images of site in 1970 when the site was active. Shows areas of high leakage from tanks, buildings where they impregnated logs with creosote and areas they dumped waste. Some of the waste has sunk deep (harder to clean but because it sinks it doesn’t spread out into the river easily) and some has “floated” on a surface (easier to clean up). Was the first site in Portland.
f. 1996 started designing remedies plan. Did a lot of engineering work for the sediment cap (modeling, sampling etc..). Groundwater treatment (since 1994) – gather from water. 1999 excavated soil. 2002 barrier wall installation around perimeter (contain source area to keep oil to flow into river). Sheet walls installed along river edge because of drop in elevation. Slurry trench along the river.
g. Last summer started the sediment cap (upland site). Covers 23 acres. Different types of materials. Covered all the beachfront, also in Willamette Cove. Removed pilings in the river. Added for fish habitat. On the steep bank, cut it back to a softer slope and will add native trees and shrubs as a greenway along the riverbank (no development allowed it will stay a natural area no matter what happens to the property). On top of original material placed orange plastic material as a marker for hazardous material. Then placed topsoil and turf reinforcement mat. It prevents erosion and would help if the river flooded. Then added compost and planted grasses. After the grass is established then can add trees and plants that will provide the erosion protection. Still undecided if they will be able to have paths down to the river. Very sensitive to riparian zones and maintaining it.
h. What is a sediment cap? Ideally the cap would just be sand. But it would was away. So we have to armor it with something (put something on top). Concrete blocks cabled together in mats, placed over sand, crushed rock and then woven fabric. Added sand on top of blocks, hopefully some will stay in lower areas (holes in blocks will help with this). Some sand was dumped from a conveyor barge, some from land; some used multiple barges and was mixed with water for the shallow areas.
i. Had a few areas where the creosote continued to seep into the river (after the barrier wall was added). Contamination will eventually stop but in those areas used a material similar to kitty litter (absorbs oily products). Worked really well, have not had any other seepage in those areas.
j. Upland cap starts at the end of the greenway and up to train tracks. Soil and sand will come in by barge. The cap will have sand, thick fabric (water does not seep through), then sand, gravel and topsoil with drainage pipes. No rainwater will penetrate the contaminated soils. The whole area is seeded with grasses and will have a retention pond (for rainwater). Recommendations for use include a park, some business. Owner would have to maintain some of the property, maintain safety and provide some public access.
k. Q: Who owns property now? A: Charlie McCormick owns it, though company is bankrupt. DEQ has a large lean on the property. He would need to be involved in the sale of the property. Their insurance company did pay out some money to help with the cleanup was but it was very small compared to DEQ.
l. Q: Total cost? A: 33million, not including long-term maintenance. How can he still own it? He still has the deed. DEQ does not want ownership. State agency has a lean on it so that no one else can try to purchase it. Once cleanup is done then it can be sold to help recover some of the cleanup cost. It is also required that there is some public benefit.
m. McCormick has said in the past (at a meeting here) he would want to keep ownership the property after the cleanup because of the property value increase. A: It’s hard to say what he will do. DEQ and EPA want the property to be put to good use quickly. Hopefully he will be able to be convinced.
n. Q: some pilings were removed with Osprey nests. What will be done to get them back? A: The osprey was there. Tried to get them to move their nest but we had to remove the pilings. Currently there are no plans to add pilings in the river (don’t have authority to spend $ on this, unless they were a endangered bird).
o. Q on funding for ONM? A: will come out of DEQ budget. Q: Where does DEQ get it’s funding? A: mostly from general funds, some from fees, bond $. Q: Is there a chance the funding will be cut? A: Anything can happen in Salem but there is a law that says that the long-term maintenance must be maintained, so that will not be cut. Q: Regulations on materials? A: the materials used are site specific and during planning, risk assessment is done. Not tested based on residential use but was tested based on industrial and other uses. Residential could be allowed once risk was assessed. Contaminants are not very volatile so as long as it is maintained and managed are possible. Single-family usage would not be good because individual owners could disrupt cap. A responsible owner must be chosen to keep up management.
p. Q on other sites that have had similar uses? A: Site in Colorado, worse that McCormick & Baxter. The site was entirely a green space. EPA has a list of sites where playing fields were put on a cap. Could get more info or look at EPA website to see what other sites have become. Gets a lot of attention when sites are put to good use.
q. Q cleanup regulations based on hours of exposure for people in the future? A: the cap covers the entire area so it is all safe for use. On another site where contaminates are removed, some concentration of contamination is left. That number is very important in terms of future use.
r. Mikell: Thanks again. Hope to finish construction of cap this September. Then will plant trees next spring (10,000 trees). Looking for community groups to be involved as a celebration of the site. There will be site visits this summer if you are interested in seeing it. Could also come back to talk about the Portland Harbor site, we are still investigating contamination. Working hard to talk to community groups and neighborhoods and non-English speaking groups also. Ties in with the Port cleanups (who are working on an early action cleanup). Another site, Gasgow is also working on an early action cleanup. This site is open for public comment. On June 8th at 7pm, (the Environmental Water Quality building) there is a Portland Harbor Community Advisory Group meeting; NW Natural (owners of the Gasgow site) will be talking about their plans.
s. Q: Is the DEQ running the tree planning? Will have partners for that (friends of tree, SOLV) and contractors to help.
t. Q: Funding for Portland Harbor? A: Federal tax for cleaning up site. Then the tax came up for renewal (Bush Sr.) and was not renewed. So the money has dried up. But the government still reviews sites and looks at ways for them to be paid for. Would prefer to find companies who are responsible and have them pay for the cleanup. Portland Harbor has been negotiating with 70 companies to work together, 8 companies stepped forward (and the city) and have all been working together and have been paying for all of it (the investigation phase – through 2007). Then they will look for other companies and require them to help pay.

a. Newsletters are available here and most of the neighborhood has received them
b. Summer event on Aug. 2nd, neighbors night out
c. New owner of Darcy’s. Doesn’t seem like he will change much.

a. Land Use: Bureau of Developmental Services will be raising their fees (zoning, land use fees). Weds at 10am, hearing. Will also affect Multnomah County fees.
b. Q: site on Lombard is available for retail development (old McDonalds). Could you look into the site, what is possible? A: Will do.
c. Info on farmers market on back of agenda.
d. Two vacancies on the board. Let us know if you are interested.
e. We’re hoping to do outreach to new neighbors. Looking for people to help send the info out (stuffing envelopes etc…) to welcome them to the neighborhood. Let Karen or Shelley know.
f. St. Johns Bride reopening called “Our Bridge is Back”. Sept 18th, bridge will be closed to traffic for a few hours. Want it to be community oriented. If you know anyone who wants to participate contact Shelley.
g. Schools: Bills that might affect us. SB 742/743 – school impact fee, for new construction. HB 2742 – establishing safe routes to school fund, $ for safe bike and walking routes to the schools. HB 2681 – veterans and high school students affected by being called to duties (goes back to WW1) can get a diploma without having graduated.
h. Fletcher: Astor final work party, it is a Starbucks fundraiser. The school gets $10 per person for 1 hour. This Saturday from 10am to 2pm.