KNA Minutes - July 2008

Posted September 19th, 2008 by angela.kirkman

KERNS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

July 16, 2008

ATTENDEES: 

GT Meili, Angela Kirkman, Jim Kautz, Emily Simon, Jack Maynard, Christy MacAnally, Karin Dibling, Michael Whitmore, Corl Smith, Steve A. Engel, Amber Boydston, Kevin Moore, Steve Russell, Teresa Kinne, Elliott Mantell, Ben Greensfelder

Chair GT Meili called the meeting to order at 6:10 PM.   Agenda reviewed and approved. May & June minutes reviewed and approved.

TREASUREER’S REPORT: 

  • Jim Kautz reported the checking account balance as $987.69 in checking account and $1097.91 in CD.

  • GT brought up getting a new bank since the old bank is out of the neighborhood, and we are limited to two checks a month.  It would also be nice to have a debit account.  GT made a motion to give Teresa permission to open a new checking account in the neighborhood’s name.

PUBLIC SAFETY (Officer Andy Edgecomb) 

  •  Not much to report in Kerns or at the Police Bureau in general 

  •  Car prowls is the largest crime reported (15 larcenies, 5 from cars, the rest from property)

  • More graffiti in neighborhood, but this does not show up on the crime report

  • Precinct Open House is coming up Saturday, August 16th from 11-3pm.

CRIME PREVENTION / GNA’s  (Katherine Anderson / Chrisy / Emily / Jim)

  • Day Labor Hire
    • Katherine attended the meeting to discuss concerns regarding the new day labor hire site.
    • The new day labor hire site is located at the corner of
      NE MLK and       NE Everett Street
    • The site is run by VOZ and offers any day laborer a safe location to seek employment; deters unscrupulous employers from taking advantage of workers; helps police identify criminals from those seeking work, and improves neighborhood livability and the local business environment.
    • Some people are still using SE 6th &
      Ankeny as day labor site.  Due to the initial media, some people are not using the new site.  The city is monitoring the new site and addressing issues.  The number of people using the site has increased.  Other two sites’usage seems to be going down from Katherine’s observation, and there is an outreach program to encourage people to use the new site
    • Emily brought up a concern of more transient people sleeping on the streets around SE 6th and
      SE Ankeny until 10:30am.  Officer Andy Edgecomb is helping to work on a “Transient Plan” for the city.
  • The Standard
    • Reed wants to engage in a Good Neighbor Agreement, but there is still no GNA.  For many reasons, it is a slow process.

RESOLUTIONS NW (Amber)

  • Amber, who is an employee of Resolutions NW, brought up the idea to do street theater on National Night Out to demonstrate a conflict and promote discussion of conflict resolution/mediation.  The idea would be to do a 10 minute skit showcasing a conflict, and then have neighbors help with a resolution
  • Emily thinks it may not be the best venue to do a conflict resolution “workshop”.
  • GT brought up maybe doing a short announcement, having a table, or inviting a smaller group of people to participate.  Amber will take the information back and contact Christy if they are interested.

PICNIC DISCUSSION

  • Chief Sizer or Commander Fox Worthy will attend the picnic. 

  • Emily brought up a motion to recognize Officer Pickett with a plaque or other form of official recognition as “Kern’s Neighborhood Response Team Top Officer Award”.  Amber mentioned that “Cracked Ice” as a business that does nice plaques.  The board appoved having GT procure this award for Officer Pickett and presenting it at the picnic.

  • Christy passed around a sign-up sheet for picnic volunteers to sign up for specific times/responsibilities. 

  • Jack Maynard mentioned that Ann Carpenter from Coca-Cola is bringing root beer float fountain and employees to staff it.

SE UPLIFT REPORT (Kevin)

  •  SEUL Board elections occurred during July meeting, followed by the icecream social

  • City of
    Portland is currently in the thought process for a trolley system.  There is some brainstorming about having trolleys run down

    NE Sandy, NE Glisan and Burnside. 

    SUSTAINABILITY (Sandra)

  • Nothing to report
  • Neighborhood compost bin built at the corner of NE 31st and NE Couch.

LAND USE UPDATES  (Mike / Emily / Jim)

  • Street trees have been saved once again along NE 11th and NE Couch
  • Burnside/Couch – Meeting at mayor’s elect office established that federal money is available for Burnside/Couch couplet, and the plan will be scaled back. 
  • Burnside Bridgehead.  Convention plaza will most likely get torn down.  PDC board chair, Mark Rosembaum, resigned.  Some discussion on Burnside Bridgehead ensued.

CENTRAL PORTLAND PLAN

  • Surveys will be sent out to decide how different areas will grow.  An area from NE 12th to 20th from

    Sandy to I-84 was established as a growth area.  The city is trying to organize getting out to National Night Out events.

  • The next meeting is next Tuesday, July 22nd.  For more information, go to www.portlandonline.com\portlandplan.

CROSSWALKS on 28th

  • Teresa received a follow-up email from Peter from the city.  They plan to meet again in September when school is in session again. 
  • If the decision is made to move forward with a crosswalk at NE 28th and
    NE Everett , the next step will be to raise money for the project since it will include modifying sidewalk ramps.

EMAIL / WEBSITE UPDATE (Angela)

  • No updates to the SEUL Kerns website yet.  Expect the new website to be up and running in the next month or so.

BY-LAWS

  • Megan is out of town, so we will do this next time.

    ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Bike safety – people biking without lights and helmets.  Kerns will bring up to Officer next month.

Meeting adjourned at 7:55 PM