ELIOT NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
Meeting Minutes 3/9/09

7:00 pm Meeting called to order by Julia Peters, Recorder, followed by introductions.

Board Members present: Joan Ivan, Julia Peters, Pauline Bradford, Nathan Miller, Marie d’Hulst, Jim Hlava, Caroline Collier, Julie Woelfer, Kirsten Jenkins, and Thomas Liddy.

Neighbors and presenters:   Joyce Boles, Marsha Dennis, Lee Perlman, Mike Warwick and Portland Police Bureau Officers Brockmann and Kroon.

Review and Approve Minutes
The minutes from 2/9/09 were approved as read.

Graffiti Task Force
Marcia Dennis of the City of Portland presented the graffiti abatement program volunteer agreement and application in preparation for the upcoming neighborhood cleanup  centering around Williams & Vancouver.  Volunteers are to start this Saturday at Jennifer Jako’s house for work between 8:30 to 12:30 . She stressed the necessity of documenting by photos all graffiti to be removed to facilitate identifying perpetrators.

Portland Police Neighborhood Response Team
♦Officers Brockmann and Kroon presented crime location maps, stating no new issues since Officer McMillan’s last presentation to the Board Meeting.
♦The officers cited vandalism as the most prevalent problem throughout the precinct, with Wednesday being the most active, between the hours of 4 and 8 p.m.
♦The officers answered questions regarding the proposed merger between the North and Northeast Precincts, responding to concerns raised by Lee and Kirsten about crack smoking in the Fremont & MLK corridor.

Spring Cleanup
Marie laid out some of the issues regarding this year’s proposed event, with little prospect of clean-up generating funds for the neighborhood association. The hours of the clean-up, the fee structure (especially for the disabled requesting a pick up), the number of boxes required, the effects of bad weather on the turnout  and other  issues were brought up, with agreement to continue finalizing plans at the General Meeting next month.  Notification was addressed, whether through mailed fliers, postcards, or a notice in the April/Spring edition of the Eliot News, in addition to the website.  Hours will most likely remain the same, as well as the fees, and we’ll likely have six drop boxes.

Cascadia GNA
♦Jim will update the outdated GNA and bring it to the LUC or the entire board for revision and approval.
♦Jim notified us about the on-going reconstruction of the office space on MLK, now to be shared with North by Northeast Community Health Center, a store-front clinic headed by Pastor Mary Ann Smith.

General Membership Meeting Plans
♦Pauline emphasized that the upcoming April 13 General Meeting was not a board meeting: anyone 14 or older living in the neighborhood could attend and vote on the general issues affecting the whole neighborhood.
♦Mike addressed Land Use issues regarding the baseball stadium/soccer field planning, parking, and possible Broadway or Grand street renaming, with hearings scheduled for 3/23 and 3/30 @ Metro, prior to Planning Commission, then City Council.
♦Other General Membership topics proposed included Baseball, Hospital, Clean-Up, Movies/Music @Dawson Park this summer, New Businesses, and Food (Kirsten to call Sparky’s; Marie to contact Grand Central).

Committee & Representative Reports
♦Bylaw Review – Jim, Naomi and Clint hope to update them for the General Membership Meeting.
♦NE Coalition of Neighborhoods, MLK Heritage Markers – discussion, but no progress to report.
♦Portland Streetcar – parking space along Broadway,west of Williams at issue. Concerned neighbors urged to speak on the Streetcar plan.

Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

Recorded by Joan Ivan, posted by Julia Peters.