Minutes for February 14th
Meeting brought to order at 7:05 pm by Vice President Steve Cole
Peter O’Neil appointed to record minutes
Officers Present: Steven Cole, Barb Christopher, Emily Weltman, Pam Lindholm-Levy, Susan Hathaway- Marxer, Erik Hovmiller, Michela McMahon, Dean Gisvold, Peter O’Neil
Guests: Keith Pitt, Joyce Larson, Lee Perlman, Officer M. Schmerber, Christian Ledbetter, Sarah Milliron, Carrie Minor
Previous meeting’s minutes and agenda approved unanimously.
Police Report
Officer Michael Schmerber of the Portland Police Bureau introduced himself as the representative of the Neighborhood Response Team. He described how the response team will work and that with only seven officers covering the entire precinct, their responses are by necessity complaint driven. Neighbors with crime problems should work together to generate complaints and contact Celeste Carey Crime Prevention Program Coordinator so she can help gather information to get police involvement. Schmerber emphasized that regardless of the problem, neighbors should report each one because numbers count. A single complaint may not bring police but many complaints about the same problem will start an investigation.
Joyce Larson talked about the effort she and her neighbors have mounted in response to ongoing suspicious and disruptive activities on her street. She has contacted her neighbors and they are working together to document incidents to report to the police and to Celeste Carey.
Celeste Carey Crime Prevention Center: 503 823 4764
Officer Michael Schmerber: 503 823 5790
NECN
Peter O’Neil reported that State Representative Lew Frederick and State Senator Chip Shields are sponsoring a bill that would give the Oregon Liquor Control Commission some authority to enforce Good Neighbor Agreements. A draft of the bill was made available to attendees.
Dean Gisvold moved that the ICA approve the draft bill, write a letter in support of it to send to Frederick and Shields, and authorize the land use committee to monitor the progress of the legislation and offer testimony if necessary. Susan Hathaway-Marxer seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
Steve Cole reported that latest efforts opposing the Columbia River Crossing in its current form. He along with several others testified at a legislative hearing in Salem about the CRC and expressed the ICA’s opposition to it on Monday Feb. 11. Dean Gisvold pointed out that the ICA has been a longstanding opponent to the CRC. He said the CRC is the most significant land use and environmental issue facing Portland today and that it will have a deleterious effect on our neighborhood and the city for many decades. Steve, along with NECN President Chris Lopez and Sabin Neighborhood Association member David Sweet, will meet with State Senator Chip Shields on Monday Feb 18, 2013 to urge the Senator to oppose the CRC. There will also be another CRC hearing the same day at 3:00 pm and Steve encouraged people to attend the hearing to show our strong opposition.
Steve also emphasized that we all need to call or email members of the legislature to let them know our opposition, especially State Senator Jackie Dingfelder, State Senator Chip Shields, State Representative Lou Frederick, and State Representative Michael Dembrow.
Steve Cole is hosting a CRC fundraising house party at his home on Feb 26, 2013 6:00 – 8:00 pm. He invites us all and he needs a donor to provide matching funds for the house party collections.
Land Use Committee
Madeleine Appeal. The Landmarks Commission had ordered that ten of fifteen lights installed on Madeleine Church buildings along NE 23rd Ave be removed from the historic structures. The Commission ruled that five lights on the non-historic structures could remain with modifications. Madeleine appealed that decision to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. Dean Gisvold reported that the City Attorney's office took a look at the findings which were part of the decision by the Landmarks Commission and decided that they, the findings, needed modification and improvement. Thus, the attorney assigned to the matter will seek to withdraw the matter from LUBA and send it back to the Commission for modification of the findings by the Bureau of Development Services staff and another approval process by the Commission, which is likely to happen at one of its meetings in April. Then the applicant can appeal again to LUBA if they wish.
Dean reported the OLCC has responded to the complaints that the LUC had presented to the OLCC as part of Aztec Willy’s liquor license renewal review at the end of 2012. Teresa Marchetti of the OLCC and Celeste Carey of the Office of Neighborhood Involvement are drafting a Good Neighbor Agreement with the restaurant owner.
There have been several new applications for Historic Design Review including the replacement of windows in the Crown Royal building on NE Hancock.
Treasurer Report
Treasurer was not present. No report.
Historic Preservation Committee
Barb Christopher reported that the code revision proposal the coalition has been working on for months will go to the city council this month. It includes several amendments that make some historic design reviews simpler and less expensive, especially Type 1 reviews which has clearer language. The coalition is lobbying for a mandate to reduce fees – not just the assumption that fees will be reduced, the creation of user guides to help homeowners understand what types of reviews may be required under the new code, fine tuning of the language about street facing facades, and an annual review of the process so that the code and enforcement may be improved over time.
Several ICA Board members have received emails from neighbors who live in the Irvington-Alameda overlap area who ask that the ICA withdraw Irvington from the National Registry of Historic Districts. The emails allege that the process to designate Irvington a Historic District was improperly implemented. Dean Gisvold moved that the ICA draft a letter in response to the emails and that it should include a history of the nomination process, the appeals process, the current status of reviews and an explanation that some of the beliefs about what can and cannot be done within the District are not accurate. The letter should encourage residents to contact the Land Use Committee with questions about the review process. Seconded by Emily Weltman. Passed unanimously.
Charitable Giving
Susan Hathaway-Marxer reported that the ICA has received many thank you letters and reports of the use of the funds we donated to various organizations.
She also sees a possible problem with charitable giving applications in the future because we have received inquiries from the Grant High School Foundation and other Grant High organizations investigating ways to apply for gifts from the ICA. Three different groups within Grant High may be asking for gifts in the future. We discussed. We have about $16,000 to give away. Do we need a policy about reviewing or accepting applications from more than one organization within a single entity? No decision was made, but the general feeling was that each application should be reviewed based on its merits which may mean that groups within a single organization may be competing with each other.
Starlight Parade
Steven Cole asked whether the ICA should participate in the Starlight Parade, perhaps with an antique car driving in the parade? Although many thought the idea worthwhile, no one volunteered to try to organize it so it was tabled ‘til next year.
Meeting adjourned at 8:15 pm