Board Members present: Mark Bartlett, Nadine Fiedler, Dave Hilts, Paul Leistner, Bunny Marechal, Gayle Marechal, John McLaren, Nancy Norby, Bruce Treat and Bing Wong.

Board members absent: Cascade Anderson Geller, Clifford Carlson, Don Jacobson, Cathy Kuehnl, John Laursen and Justin Leonard.

Others present: Brent Charbonneau, Wayne Dietz, Marlene Detman, Tom Detman, Jim Blackwood, Barbara Grimala, Don Holden, Heidi Kohne, Shannon Loch and Officer Gary Manougian

Bing Wong led introductions. Minutes from the March meeting were previously distributed via email and several copies were brought to this meeting. The minutes were adopted upon motion by Nadine Fiedler and seconded by Gayle Marechal. Bing Wong presented the treasurer’s report.

Announcements

Bing Wong announced that the MTNA is seeking nominations for the board elections in May. Nomination forms were located by the materials as at the entrance. To be eligible for the board, you must belong to the neighborhood association and also have attended two meetings in the previous year.

Heidi Kohne notified us that the Transitional School would be moving from the church to their new permanent location by May 1st.

Paul Leistner said that the City is trying to get more people to come to neighborhood meetings and toward that end, is offering limited reimbursement for childcare and language translation as well as some bus passes. If anyone knew of someone that could take advantage of this limited resource, please contact a board member.

Gayle is still seeking submissions for the May newsletter. Send those in to him at gayle.marechal@mttaborpdx.org.

Officer Gary Manougian visited and said that car prowls are still happening in the neighborhood. GPS systems are particularly enticing. His advice was to not leave anything that looks like it may be valuable in plain sight as this is an invite to thieves to break into your car. He also said that bike thefts may rise as the weather gets warmer.

Dave Hilts said that there was a house on Madison and 72nd where sections of landscaping are going into the sidewalk area and that it was blocking public access. A discussion ensued about the City’s previous lack of interest in this type of issue.

Gayle reminded everyone that the annual clean up will be Saturday, May 10 at Mt. Tabor Middle School from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Gayle had a volunteer sign up sheet at the door and also had another for yard signs announcing the clean up.

Three Portland State students visited to solicit information re Taggard D, Portland’s ongoing stormwater project. The students are conducting surveys on social issues such as how construction and bioswales affect residents. They are seeking this information from citizens by contacting community groups and organizations such as MTNA. Interest in or questions about the survey may be directed to tbcamp7@gmail.com.

New Business

Shannon Loch distributed materials on a survey the City is taking on possibly increasing the height of cell phone towers. The height of these towers may impede or mar views of the city or of Mt. Tabor itself. Shannon is concerned about the general lack of public input into where these towers are located and also thinks that if they are needed that lines should be placed underground. She would like MTNA to take a position on them in the neighborhood. The survey link is located at http://www.portlandonline.com/cable/index.cfm?&c=47051

Committee Reports

Land Use

Dave Hilts reported that it was generally quiet. He said that there was an issue about additional parking spaces at 56th and Stark but that it appeared to have been resolved.

WWI Memorial Bench

Don Holden says that the Water Bureau does plan to include a bench at the northwest corner of reservoir six but it is unclear when this will happen. With the assistance of Sharlane Blaise, he was able to find the other benches in the park.

Southeast Uplift (SEUL)

Paul Leistner says that in May the asphalt and concrete around Tabor Commons as well as the underground storage tank should be removed. Building renovation should begin after the tank is removed. On May 10th, the farm stand will open for one day and proceeds from sales will go to Tabor Commons. On motion by Nancy Norby and seconded by Bruce Treat, MTNA agreed to donate after cost funds from the neighborhood clean up on May 10th to Tabor Commons. Finally, Gil Kelly of the city’s Planning Bureau will meet with members of the community at some unspecified point in the future to discuss the Portland Plan for determining which direction Portland goes in the future.

Friends of Mt. Tabor Park

Nancy Norby reported that Friends recently had its 2000th foot patrol. Walking trails are coming together and the ironwork around reservoir no. 1 will come back.

Tabor Public Land Task Force

Mark Bartlett passed around the Articles of Incorporation for the new organization called Southeast Public Land or SEPL, which has the express purpose of protecting public land for use by all citizens for generations.

Mt. Tabor Park Master Plan Update

Nancy Norby says that things are running much smoother lately since some sub-committees have been formed. The group is hoping to hire an architect by June 1st but that may be a problem as money was cut from the budget by the city. Meetings of the master plan update group are the first and third Mondays of the month at the church. The public is both welcome and encouraged to attend.

Meeting adjourned at approximately 8:00

The next MTNA meeting will be Wednesday, May 21 at 7 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church as SE 54th /Belmont.

Previous Minutes can always be found at www.mttaborpdx.org/about

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