Minutes for April 10th
President Steven Cole called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm. Members present: Susan Hathaway-Marxer, Peter O’Neil, Tom Mertes, Christine Coers-Mitchell, William Archer, Barb Christopher, Pam Lindholm-Levy, Dean Gisvold, Jim Barta, Nathan Corser, Michela McMahon, J.C. Jones, Jason Messer and Steven Cole. Visitors: Patty Linde, representing Villages, Ann L. Schneider, Diane Nowicki and Rep. Barbara Smith Warmer.
Previous (March) minutes amended and then approved. There were questions about candidates appearing before the ICA, but Steven Cole reiterated city policy and ONI rules on those appearances and indicated there has been no violation.
No policeman present. No police related issues reported.
NECN Report: Peter O’Neil reported that the quarterly meeting to be held April 21 will primarily concern Last Thursday and the Mayer’s suggestions for changing aspects of the Alberta Street event. He also reported that Chris Lopez resigned as president and our Steven Cole is now the acting president of NECN.
Patty Linde make a presentation regarding the proposed virtual village to be known as NE Village PDX, which is not limited to seniors as residents, but also includes disabled and even temporary citizens. There is still considerable discussion regarding the western boundary to be chosen. Comments that the overall “chosen” area is very large. Patty said that her exploratory group is looking for a “core group”: to start promoting the creation of the village, but the audience had many questions about boundaries to the west and north. There was much discussion about drawing boundaries regarding who is in and who is out. Patty said the boundaries are not fully formed and the organizations welcomes comments and suggestions. Barb Christopher suggested that it follow ONI boundaries for a good way to organize already-established groups. Dean Gisvold volunteered to send Patty’s group a memo he has written about the historical ICA and its neighbors.
ICA Website: Brian Schaeperkoetter is not in attendance so he cannot report on current status, but it was reported that another “hitch” has developed and the website is still not up. Barb Christopher said that the beta version looks good but there is no information on how to put content on it. We have a website but we cannot access it or add data. General and specific frustration was expressed about this situation, and it was decided that Steven should give Brian notice of a drop-dead date for the website to be up and operating satisfactorily. If is not done by that specific date, then we will have no other choice but to explore other options to finish the job.
Home Tour: Sunday, May 18 is the Home Tour and volunteers are still needed for half-day shifts. Pam Lindholm-Levy reported that all is going well, the houses are stunning and mostly in the SE quarter of the neighborhood and the group expects another successful tour.
ICA Neighborhood Clean-up: Jason reported that the clean up is May 11 and he is looking for volunteers. It will be held in the NE 21st area parking lot area of the Holiday Park Church of God at the corner of NE 21st and Tillamook.
Land Use Committee: There are six or seven pending land use applications. Dean Gisvold is using his rapid response team (approx. 15 people) of Land Use Committee Members to provide rapid assistance to the City on items that have an extremely urgent turnaround need.
There is a Recap 6 document coming before the Planning Commission to deal with minor changes to the City’s comprehensive code. City Council should be ready to deal with it this summer. The ICA is focusing on 1. Short-term rentals, 2. Convenience store start-ups, such as the one on NE 8th which is a residential garage converted to a mini-store, and 3. Cell towers. Recap 6 has some good language to improve our focus issues. It provides for regulation of the short-term rental “industry” and also requires collection of payment of City inspections and room tax. A question was raised about VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner). It is not regulated by Recap 6 and there was discussion about how this will be regulated.
At the February meeting, the ICA Board approved the ICA’s position on short-term rentals. Dean does intend to testify in person before the Planning Commission regarding Recap 6 and will convey the ICA position. He wants it clear that he is not handling cell tower issues. It was noted that Home Forward has put antennas on top of Dahlke Manor.
Columbia River Crossing: Steven Cole reported that the Governor is still pushing this and intends for the 2015 Legislature to take it up.
Elections: Peter O’Neill, as Chair of the Nominating Committee, said that he is looking for people to serve on the Board, both new and returning candidates. It was mentioned that ICA Board Member Robert Ridgeway is recovering from heart surgery and is home.
Charitable Giving (CG) Committee: Steven appointed the following ICA Board members to serve on the Committee: Jeff Jones (Treasurer), Susan Hathaway- Marxer (Chair), Pam Lindholm-Levy, Emily Weltman, Nathan Christensen and himself (President). Nathan Corser also volunteered to serve and was appointed, giving the committee a full compliment of seven board members.
Newsletter Update: Steven Cole is writing an article about our trees and the tree situation, Barb is writing a primer to help property owners understand even more about the Historic District regulations, Jason will have info about the neighborhood clean-up, and there is expected to be a large Home Tour ad.
Tree Removal: Conversation about the disappearing canopy in Irvington. Steven Cole reported many calls of outrage about disappearing trees. He has invited the “tree bosses” to tour Irvington, but they declined. The City has approved new tree policy but not enacted it because of inadequate funding. Steven Cole explained the policy. He has questions about staff administering the current and future policy and has drafted a letter to City Council. Other NE neighborhoods are also complaining. Steven will work with Jason and Dean to write a letter to City Council about the urgency and importance of the issue and the trees. It was reported that Century Link has been in the neighborhood trimming trees. Christine Coers-Mitchell made a motion to write a letter putting pressure on the City Council and the Forestry Commission. The motion passed.
Treasurer’s Report: Jeff Jones said there was no treasurer’s report due this month.
New Business: Barb Christopher reported that 130 Century House signs have been ordered. Cost of signs and sign holders is $502.00. Steven Cole suggested that signs be installed in area roundabouts listing the day, time and location of ICA meetings. He will propose the authorization in May.
Rep. Barbara Smith Warner of House District 45 introduced herself. She was appointed to the Legislature in November 2013 and began her service with the short session in February 2014. She lives on NE 51st and Sandy and her district extends into the southeast area of Irvington. She is eager to learn of citizen’s concerns and urged Irvington residents to communicate with their elected representatives.
Minutes taken by Susan Hathaway-Marxer and submitted for approval on June 12, 2014.