Board Members present:

Cascade Anderson Geller, Mark Bartlett, Jim Blackwood, Nadine Fiedler, Don Jacobson, Heidi Kohne, Paul Leistner, Bunny Marechal, Gayle Marechal, John McLaren, Nancy Norby, Bruce Treat and Bing Wong.

Board members absent: Cathy Kuehnl, John Laursen, Justin Leonard, Bunny Marechal, Gayle Marechal

Others present: Sharlane Blaise, Wayne Dietz, Eckhardt Dietze, Rhetta Drennan, Leticia Gregoso, Ross Lesko, Officer Gary Manougian, Dan Marchand, Tom Mills, Anne Nelson, Robert Rezcuum, Mike Shaver, Greg Snider and Mike Shaver.

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

Announcements

Mark Bartlett says that cars were vandalized on Yamhill two weeks ago. Damage included slashed tires and keyed doors. Officer Manougian says that not much can be done two weeks after the fact.

Bruce Treat needs someone to cover his Secretarial duties at the August meeting and Gayle Marechal volunteered.

Old Business

Randy Tucker visited to seek support of the MTNA to write a letter to the PDOT expressing concerns about inaccurate and potentially dangerous traffic lights at 50th/Hawthorne. Discussion ensued about safety issues as some neighbors are concerned that someone is going to get hit by a car while walking into the intersection with a green pedestrian sign. Officer Manougian suggested putting police out to monitor the situation. Mr. Tucker and Officer Manougian stepped away from the meeting to discuss further.

Howard Siegel was not in attendance to give an update on traffic concerns near 60th and Lincoln. Several people noted that the Water Bureau has put out signs trying to get motorists to slow down during the construction. Some concerns have been addressed and some cannot be.

Jim Blackwood followed up on an idea he had about thanking neighbors affected by the construction near 60th/Lincoln and Hawthorne. After some discussion about MTNA writing a note of appreciation to each neighbor affected, it was decided that Jim would write the note for the next quarterly newsletter.

New Business

Rhetta Drennan and Anne Nelson gave a talk about upcoming sewer and stormwater construction projects in the area roughly abounding Taylor, Hawthorne, 50th and 58th Streets. Construction should start around April of 2009. In addition to this area, five other projects are planned to alleviate water issues in Southeast Portland. Rhetta and Anne also wanted to know about sewer or stormwater backing up into basements in the Mt. Tabor area.

Nancy Norby contacted Isabelle Zifcak of Mt. Tabor Realty at 69th/Belmont about her plans to expand the building up to 30 feet up. Nancy said that Ms. Zifcak welcomed anyone who wanted to come and discuss with her.t

Helen Neville of New Seasons Market spoke about a New Seasons moving into the site of the old Daily Grind on Hawthorne. Neighbors expressed concern about heightened traffic and lack of adequate parking. Responding to questions, Ms. Neville said that the project couldn’t have gotten financing with designs for an underground parking structure. She did not know if financing was also an impediment to rooftop parking at the Fred Meyer at 39th/Hawthorne. She said that Daily Grind had about 18-20 parking spots and she anticipated New Seasons having about the same amount or slightly more. She said the new market would have approximately 10,000 sq. ft. on the ground floor with an approximately 6,000 square foot upper floor devoted to storage. Ms. Neville invited everyone to attend a meeting on July 23rd at St. Philip Neary Church on Division to further discuss concerns.

Mark Bartlett raised concerns about lack of community involvement in Portland Public Schools’ disposition of schools. After much discussion, Paul Leistner made a motion, seconded by Don Jacobson that MTNA will write a letter to Michael Mills, the City’s Ombudsman, that MTNA supports community members having a say in changes to schools that affect them.

Tom Mills and Dan Marchand of Trimet visited to discuss potential changes to bus lines 14 and 71 with the opening of the green line MAX and with completion of the Water Bureau work on Lincoln and 60th in 2009. The 14 line would only be adjusted in downtown with three options. The 71 line would at least partially return to Lincoln with an option for the Eastbound bus to travel up Division St. and make a left on 60th. The Westbound 71 would stay on Lincoln between 60th/52nd due to turning issues at Division/60th. Several neighbors on Lincoln said they were pleased with Trimet’s openness to potentially moving at least half the bus line off of Lincoln.

Ross Lesko, a student at PSU, announced that he and a group of others have finished their asset map in conjunction with the SE Neighborhoods Asset Mapping Project. MTNA will soon have a link on its website (www.mttaborpdx.org) to the map.

Committee Reports

Southeast Uplift (SEUL)

Paul Leistner said that SEUL has elected a new board. He was no longer president but would still serve as MTNA’s delegate. Leah Hyman is the new Land Use person at SEUL to contact with land use issues. ONI and Community Connect are looking at ways to increase diversity in neighborhood associations.

Friends of Mt. Tabor Park

Nancy Norby said that Friends is holding their annual picnic at on Tuesday, August 12th at 6 p.m. in the main picnic area and that the public is invited.

Mt. Tabor Park Master Plan Update

The public will have the opportunity to view draft designs for the Mt. Tabor Central Yard & Nursery on Saturday, August 2nd from 9 to 12 at the Southern entrance to the park at 64th/Lincoln. Participants in the process attending the MTNA meeting said that Jon Makler, the facilitator for the project, has resigned for personal reasons. They also said that there currently are no plans for a community garden at the Yard. Some noted that the City isn’t currently planting trees on the long block between Lincoln/Sherman and also that harvesting has been cut back. There is still a concern about which City bureau owns the land. There was also a concern raised about the park now being designated as accessory use which may mean allowing building on the land without public insight into the land use.

Meeting adjourned at approximately 9:00

The next MTNA meeting will be Wednesday, August 20 at 7 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church as SE 54th /Belmont.

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