Eliot Neighborhood Association
Meeting Minutes
September 17, 2018
6:30 – 8:35 pm
St. Philip Deacon Episcopal Church
NE 120 Knott St.

Meeting called to order 6:30pm

*MOVE to accept May meeting minutes by acclimation – Brad Baker

PRESENTATION: Portland Harbor Community Advisory Group – Portland Harbor Superfund

• The area surrounding the Willamette River from the Fremont Bridge North to the Columbia River (11 miles) is a Superfund site
• In 2017, the federal government gave a dollar amount to clean up the area: 1.5 billion dollars
• The City has asked PHCAG to reach out to the community to ask neighborhoods how they (the city of Portland) can better reach out about what is happening with the river and clean up efforts
• There is legacy contamination in the river from ship building in the war effort in WWI, WWII, and agriculture; there was no information about the harms of chemicals in agriculture until the 1970s
• There are ongoing investigations into what needs to be done, testing water/chemical levels, remediation sample testing that will have results in 2019; there are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the sediment of the river
• Over 300 companies are responsible to contributing to the pollution and it is estimated that clean up will take 20 years
• 3 methods of managing the pollutants: dredging, capping the sediment with cement, monitored natural recovery
• Neighbors can get involved by participating in Portland Harbor Community Advisory Group (PHCAG), Portland Harbor Community Coalition (PHCC), and Willamette River Keepers
• Folks from PHCAG took notes of questions and comments from the board and neighbors to bring back to the city of Portland to consider in their communication and community education efforts during the process

PLANNING: October General Meeting and Eliot Neighborhood Association election

• Portland Clean Air will come present to the neighbors; place flyers in coffee shops and telephone poles around the neighborhood
• $150 funds for food; Jimmy Wilson will ask Mexican food cart to cater
• Jonathan Konkol from LUTC plans to join the board

*MOVE to have a slate election for Oct 2018-Oct 2019 board; Jessica Rojas from NECN will run the election – Sue Stringer; Pat Montgomery seconds; approved

UPDATES: Portland Pensione

• Police arrested three people, seized one stolen car; in August two people were arrested
• There is a committee forming to address Portland Pensione issues

ENA Project Updates and Committee Reports: 

Parking Permit Canvassing

• We have enough signatures to submit to PBOT to get the permitting process started
• Proposed permit parking area is Hancock to Sacramento, MLK to Williams
• PBOT will come present to the board and neighbors at November meeting

Dawson Park Concerts: Domino Tournament

• Domino tournament was well received and had many participants

Land Use and Transportation Committee

• People’s Pig Site – there is a new architect working on the project; city has had issues with trash, etc.
• LUTC is recruiting new members; a few members have chosen to step down and now the committee is down to 4-5 people
• Hill Block Project – there will be a meeting about the project on November 7th at New Song church

Meeting adjourned 8:35pm

Guests/Residents present: Michael Pouneir (PHCAG), Laura Feldman (PHCAG), Thursday Bram, Jonathan Konkol (LUTC), Jessica Terlikowski (City of Portland Environmental Services)

Board Members present: Brad Baker, Jim Hlava, Jimmy Wilson, Maggie Gardner, Monica Choy Salazar, Patricia Montgomery, Shireen Hasan, Sue Stringer