Southeast Uplift Board Meeting, 7-9pm

Members present:
Marianne Colgrove, Ardenwald-Johnson Creek, Chair
Pete Jacobsen, At-Large, Treasurer
Jeff West, Buckman, Secretary
Dan Weiland, Sellwood-Moreland
MJ Coe, Laurelhurst
Bryan Agee, Mt. Scott-Arleta, Vice-Chair
Roy Hartley, Richmond
Shirley Nacoste, IRCO
Moshe Lenske, Woodstock
April Burris, North Tabor
Alison Starkey, Eastmoreland
Paul Leistner, Mt. Tabor, Past Chair
Aubrie Abbott, Reed
Julie Ratcliff, Woodstock, at-large
 
Outside:
Claudia Plaza, Portland Main Street Coordinator
Don MacGillivray, Buckman
Joanna Bailey, Montavilla, member-elect
Joseph Santos,  ?

Quorum established at 7:03 pm and meeting called to order by Marianne.

Seating new directors: Joanna Bailey is the new member-elect from Montavilla, but does not have paperwork.  Julie Ratcliff from Woodstock neighborhood gives a brief introduction.   Marianne nominates Julie to be an at-large board member, seconded (Moshe), passes without dissent.

Minutes from last month: No corrections to minutes suggested.  Motion to approve (Pete), seconded (Moshe), passes without dissent.
 
Portland Main Street Plan:
Claudia Plaza, Portland Main Street Coordinator, gives an overview of the program and fields questions from board members.  Highlights include:

     * The Portland Main Street Plan is a long-term economic development program that the City Council has designated money for and will target business districts in neighborhoods, promoting neighborhood vitality and sustainable neighborhoods.

    * The National Trust for Historic Preservation (in Washington, DC) developed the program in the early 1980s; Portland will be a coordinating program and the first of its kind west of the Mississippi River

    * The aim of the program includes the revitalization of traditional business districts, advocating for self-reliance within neighborhoods, empowering public & private partnerships and building organizational capacity across groups

    * This program is not the same as the Oregon Main Street Program

    * $500,000 has been earmarked for the first year to establish the program

    * The program’s focus points will include  promotion, organization, design & economic re-structuring and a sustainability overlay for Portland

    * Key steps of the process will includes each district hiring program manager who reports to volunteer board of directors and then developing a vision process & work plan; there is typically a 3-year window before measurable results can be seen;  the Hawthorne district has successfully implemented this program in the past.

    * The application process will be driven by community entities (schools, churches, businesses, neighborhood organizations, etc.) organizing around an application;  key elements will include attending training sessions, communities committing to raising funds (long-term), establishing working committees, etc.

Questions raised include the criteria of applications (Paul) and the size of eligible areas (Paul), the role of community residents in the process, especially pertaining to fundraising (April) and the type of collectives that have had successful applications in the past (MJ).

Claudia notes that all areas/applications are different, but key criteria will include the commitment to raise funds and hire a manager; that the national model has shown the area works best in areas under 15 blocks; the program is strictly for areas outside urban renewal areas (per City Council), and the intent is to provide grants to each successful district application (approximately $50,000+ each).

Paul suggest it would be helpful for Claudia to provide some examples and/or case studies to the types of areas and/or collaborations that have been successful in the past, as this would help the neighborhoods and the Board understand how to engage with the program.

SEUL Portland Plan retreat feedback:
April & Dan report that David Grant led the activity focusing on the 7 different priorities, emphasizing the difference between the Portland Comprehensive Plan and the Portland Plan.

The retreat had a strong turnout and there has been a lot of interest from other neighborhood coalitions on how it was conducted.   Leah is in the process of writing up the notes & contributions and will distribute.

Don notes that SEUL may host additional workshops going forward as the schedule progresses and the Planning Bureau has offered to hold other meetings if we feel the schedule is not adequate.  They are also developing an online workbook for those that cannot attend a meeting.

Don notes he will send link to the list of all neighborhood plans to the Board in preparation as background material in preparation for Portland Plan meetings.

Land Use Report:
Dan notes that the Sellwood Bridge project was discussed and is gaining momentum; the Columbia River Crossing was also discussed, including the citizen groups working on building grassroot opposition to the progress.   Marianne inquires if the Board would be interested in this topic being on the general meeting (including presentation and/or guest), and the response is favorable.

Roy inquires if there was any action taken by the Land Use Committee regarding the Columbia River Crossing at their last meeting, as one of his neighborhood colleagues was planning to introduce an action item?   The status of action item is unclear and Anne and Marianne note they will follow-up with Leah and report back to the Board regarding action items at the November Land Use meeting.

First Quarter Treasurer’s Report:
Pete reports SEUL was very frugal in operation and budget in the first quarter with a focus on improving the financial situation.  Highlights include:

    * ONI allotment in first quarter is greater than 25%

    * Real income is currently 150% above budget, largely due to increase in fiscal sponsorship fees.

    * Payroll expense will be low throughout the year as a tax budget item was too high

    * Prof services will be lower as some financial services functions are now being done internally

    * Insurance budget line is high because reimbursements have not been factored in; i.e. some line items have to be paid out in advance – however, there have been no unexpected expenses as yet

    * Pete has not gotten into accounting side of our fiscal sponsorship projects as he has been focusing on SEUL side

    * MJ inquires about the major computer repair?  Anne notes Macforce has had to make three service calls to address network problems.

Director’s Report:   
Insurance-
Anne notes that per our contract the insurance carrier can increase costs at any point if they realized they did not charge enough.   Two issues have led to an additional $3,000 in unbudgeted insurance expenses:  1) extending coverage to organizations that SEUL was not eligible to extend coverage to (primarily business organizations), 2) underestimating the number of large events that happened during the year and the types of expensive riders associated with them (including those for parades, bouncing castles, climbing walls, large numbers of people, etc.)

Anne notes that the uptick in expenses are putting us on par with other neighborhood coalitions and that next year all of this will be budgeted and figured out upfront.

Pete notes that conversations have revealed that with a 2 month notice on rider, the rider will cost what it is quoted at; but if there is no notice, the insurance carrier has the right to come back after the fact with quote & we will have to pay whatever that quote is

Paul suggest drafting  guidelines to neighborhoods of these changes and expectations going forward so that they can understand different levels of insurance and what could potentially change vs. what they have done in the past.   Anne will follow-up and distribute.

Oil tank:
Anne notes that the total cost for removing the oil tank has gone up to $11,000.  Estimates started out around $4,000, but went to $7,500 because of the amount of dirt that needed to be removed.  When digging reached the foundation wall, soil samples still failed, so the options were to a) dig more with no guarantee to success or b) conduct an soil gas vapor testing procedure (at an additional cost $3,115) that the contractor was so confident of the positive results that the hole has been filled and if the test fails they will re-open at their own expense.

Paul suggest contacting risk management lawyer and/or “insurance archaeologist” to see if there is any other liability for the expense as the oil tank was put in place before SEUL occupancy and SEUL doesn’t own the building (or at least can’t sell the building).  Anne will proceed and follow-up.

Miscellaneous:
Anne notes they have been showing building space to ONI/Crime Prevention, who are possibly looking for money to rent the space.

Anne notes that Tim attended training session to allow for SEUL to host video camera from ONI that will be available for check out to neighborhoods.

Anne notes that ONI is soliciting feedback from neighborhood residents on their mission/goals.  Bryan asks if anyone submits feedback, they copy the Board to potentially initiate a discussion

Anne notes SEUL is an official host for Seniors Make Sense and that someone will be working front desk and answering phones shortly.