Minutes for March 9th 2017
Irvington Community Association
Meeting Minutes
March 8, 2017
Prepared by: Joseph Albert
Board Members Present:
Steve Cole, Joseph Albert, Tiffanie Shakespeare, Josh Plager, Dean Gisvold, Peter O'Neil,
Bob Dobrich, Michela McMahon, Christine Coers-Mitchell, Jim Barta, Howard Bales
Neighbors and Guests:
Terry Tomei, Dan Bower
President Steve Cole calls meeting to order at 7:10pm
Introductions
Minutes Approval
Motion and second to approve February 2017 minutes and March 2017 agenda, both approved unanimously.
Police Report
No police officer available for report
NE Broadway Streetcar Proposal
Dan Bower from the Portland Streetcar agency presented ideas for expansion onto NE Broadway. He disussed streetcar goals, funding models, and service improvements that have been made, as well as a map of the planned future routes.
Mr. Bower discussed ridership and comparison to buses in overall cost, and mentioned that ridership has been observed to increase with increases in housing density.
Mr. Bower mentioned that funding has not been articulated, and he also responded to a question about tax assessments with the information that residential properties are exempt from streetcar assessments. Funding for streetcar projects has been obtained from 26 different sources in the past.
Decision maker on projects is the City Council, with no timeline articulated at present. Trying to get in queue in Metro plan for possible Federal funding.
It is believed that the streetcar would include making NE Broadway more pedestrian-friendly.
Land-Use Report
The land-use committee would like to file complaints on short-term rentals (such as AirBnB rentals) when neighbors feel aggrieved. The board concurred with doing so (no motion was needed to empower the committee to do so).
The outcome of the 2011 Siskiyou project was reported. See the February 2017 minutes for details.
The project at Ne 13th and Tillamook to add a building with several rental units will be in Design Advice Review on March 20.
A letter to be sent to the Eastmoreland Neighborhood Assn. responding to claims made about the Irvington Historic District that most in ICA consider to have been misleading at best was approved for transmission by a seconded motion that passed unanimously.
Condos at 909 NE Brazee have some serious issues related to water damage enabled by poor quality rehab work done when the apartment building was converted to condos. Historic review may require replacing vinyl windows and synthetic doors, increasing the cost of remediation of their problems. Total cost of remediation is estimated at around $1 million, or $100,000/unit.
Disaster Preparedness Committee Report
Preparedness events:
Block organizing was scheduled for April 9.
May 23 – Mercy Corps event at Irvington School.
Neighborhood Cleanup
Cleanup is May 13 either 9am-1pm or 9am-3pm. Meet at Holladay Church of God at NE 21st and Tillamook if interested in participating.
Solar Panels
Terry Tomei of Elemental Energy spoke about residential solar energy technology. Current panels require about 200 square feet of area to get reasonable energy generation rates (300 watts/panel). Elemental Energy would like to work with the Land-use Committee on designs appropriate for Irvington.
Apple Bandit
Joseph reported on the “Apple Bandit” who was been throwing rotten apples on rooftops and leaving bizarre leaflets on doors in Portland and Vancouver. He recently was operating in Irvington west of NE 15th. So far, all activity has been non-violent, but as a precaution notify Portland Police or Clark County Sheriff if he is observed.
Meeting Closure
A motion to close the meeting was initiated, seconded, and approved unanimously. The meeting closed at 8:50pm.