Others Present: Officer Gary Manougian, Mary Kinnick, Katherine Anderson, Tom Leiner, Barb Gamelgard, Matt Gimor, Gordon Magill, Susan Kelly (Water Bureau), Merry Larsen (Courtyard Plaza), Blythe Pavlik

The meeting opened with introductions led by President Treat. The minutes from the March meeting were then approved on a motion by Nancy Norby, seconded by Barb Gamelgard.

The financial report was presented by Treasurer Wong. He stated that even though we have quite a lot of money, we are expecting some expenses soon.

Announcements

Bruce announced that association elections are next month. Please let him know if you are interested in being on the board and/or would like an particular position.

Katherine Anderson announced the results of the recent Hawthorne Good Neighbor Agreement meeting. She said it was a good meeting, and a few changes were made to the agreement. She said that a few past problems have been addressed and improved upon, while a few other issues are still present and being worked on. Also, Nancy Norby said that she would like to have a cleanup party for  the curb extension at 50th and Hawthorne, one each in May, July and September. Please contact Nancy if your are interested in helping out and/or if you would like a schedule of these events.

Katherine also announced that there will be a crime-reporting training session open to the public on May 5. It will be held at Legacy Good Samaritan (1015 NW 22nd Ave., Bldg #2, north and south conference rooms) from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.Pre-registration is required by calling 503--823-9666 by May 3. The event is free.

Bruce also announced that beginning Saturday Mt. Tabor Park will temporarily have a giant acupuncture needle  above Reservoir 5. This is part of a city-wide art project that draws attention to the Portland Plan and current city issues.

The Mt. Tabor Summer Concert Series will be every Tuesday in July. It was moved by Paul Leistner and seconded by Nancy Norby to donate $500 to the series.

Neighborhood Issues

Neighborhood Crime: Officer Manougian reported on the state of the neighborhood. He said that recently there have been quite a few incidents of vehicle parts being stolen, mostly from the east side of the park to around 78th Avenue. There was one armed robbery, on SE Division, and the perpetrator was found and apprehended. There was a spike in car thefts last month. He advised us to be a bit nosy with out neighbors and not be afraid to call police if you see something suspicious.

Graffiti Cleanup. Bruce Treat gave us an update on a recent neighborhood graffiti abatement party. About 16 people came, got buckets of paint and solvents and went along SD Division between 50th and 76th, the park, and other areas in the neighborhood to clean up and and paint over graffiti. He is interested in doing more of these small graffiti parties. He proposed sending a letter to each city commissioner asking them to keep graffiti abatement in the city budget. It was moved by Nancy Norby and seconded by Paul Leistner to have Bruce write this letter.

Neighborhood Cleanup: Posters and info was passed out about this annual event which this year will happen May 22. Volunteers to help with the cleanup were sought.

Adoption Mosaic: Astrid Dabbeni of Adoption Mosaic gave a presentation on her organization. Adoption Mosaic currently has 12 volunteers and is based in Astrid's home. They provide support services for families with adopted children and go to schools to talk with students about what adoption is like. They will be having Run, Momma, Run. a benefit run for families on Mother's Day (May 9) at 9:30 a.m. at Mt. Tabor Park. Entrance fee is $45 and will include kids' crafts and a lot of giveaways for kids and moms. Their website is www.adoptionmosaic.org.

Water Bureau: Susan Kelly gave us an update on the Portland Water Bureau. The Mt. Tabor Maintenance and Security Project, finished last year, now needs a contract extension for more piping work. This work will last four weeks beginning July 6. It will be centered on 60th Avenue at Hawthorne to install pipes and vaults as part of the Powell Butte EPA LT2 installation. Some streets will be closed for most of July.

Mt. Tabor Park Exhibit, John Laursen and Gordon Magill passed out a proposal for MTNA to create a committee that would oversee a series of high-quality interpretive display panels for the park that would provide history and explanation of various features in the park. This would be in conjunction with the Mt. Tabor Park Master Plan. The panels would be made of porcelain-covered steel, with images and text screen-printed and kiln-fired. It was moved by Paul Leistner and seconded by Dawn Smallman that MTNA support this proposal and make it a project of MTNA. Approved.

The Tabor Commons grand opening party will be July 17. There will be a community work party with students from Warner-Pacific College this Saturday from 1-4 pm, with a barbecue following. A new trellis and eco--roof will be built soon to cover part of the patio.

Southeast Uplift, the largest neighborhood coalition in Portland, just finished a staff retreat, where they worked on current issues in the neighborhoods. SEUL also is addressing the issue of pedestrian crossings and traffic speeding on Division from 50th to 76 avenues. It was moved by John Laursen and seconded by Dawn Smallman to purse traffic calming and pedestrian safety issues on SE Division St. from 50th to 76th avenues.

Nadine Fiedler hopes to finish the neighborhood newsletter by next week, and she would welcome suggestions for future articles..

Committees

Friends of Mt. Tabor Park

Mary Kinnick passed out their new brochure. It features small maps of the three trails as well as information about how to join FMTP. Friends hopes to have the brochures available in holders at park entrances and other locations.

This Saturday will be the first monthly cleanup of the season. To join a cleanup, meet at 9 a.m. at the kiosk on the last Saturday of each month in your grubby clothing; bring tools and gloves, if you have them, but tools and gloves will also be provided.

The next FMTP board meeting May 10 will include discussion about the bicycling that is occurring off the trails. There may be some new signage for bicyclists, although that has not been decided. FMTP board members also are considering signs to serve as a guide to some of  the trees in the park.

The meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m..

The next meeting will be Wednesday, May 19, 2010, at 7:00pm at Mt. Tabor Presbyterian Church, located at SE 54^{th and Belmont.}

For more information, please go to www.mttaborpdx.org.