DRAFT
Cully Association of Neighbors General Meeting, December 12, 2017, Grace Presbyterian Church, 6025 NE Prescott, 7 – 9 PM
Board Members Present: Laura Young, Rich Gunderson, Mac McKinlay, David Sweet, Stephanie Neely, Oscar Moreno Gilson, Josh Heumann, and Julie Granger.
Welcome and Introductions: Members were welcomed and board introduced themselves.
Additional Agenda Items: none
Approval of Agenda: Josh Heumann moved to accept the agenda, second by Marilee Dea. Motion carried.
Food donated by Beeswing, Miss Z and Grand Central for tonight’s meeting. Everyone enjoyed some treats and shared a holiday tradition with others at their tables.
Announcements from the floor:
Chelsea from Living Cully thanked CAN for mini grant which they are using for an event introducing NE Village PDX to the community. There will be a dinner, live music and information about NE Village PDX Friday December 15th, 6:30 pm at Trinity Lutheran Church.
NE Emergency Food Pantry: They are in need of clothing particularly coats and shoes for adults and children.
District Police: Mike Leisure and Jami Resch from the North Precinct gave an update. North Precinct will be getting a new commander as Robert King is retiring the end of the year. Police Department has huge staffing issues, though there are 100 officers in training right now and City Council just approved hiring 20 more. Because of the shortage they are not able to attend all the neighborhood association meetings they are invited to. Quarterly they hold a community meeting with the command staff. It was noted that those meetings are not area specific which is less helpful. The officers stated that traffic related deaths though out the city are on a rise. There is a much improved process for removing abandoned vehicles and RVs. Anyone can go online and report chronic problems. Onepointofcontact.org to report abandoned cars and RV
Clean Air Presentation: Greg Sotir, chair of Cully Air Action Team (CAAT) led the presentation. He stated that CAAT is relatively inactive during the winter months though they continue to do some monitoring. There is air stagnation during the winter months. He introduced the guest speakers: Greg Bourgeois with Portland Clean Air and Akash Singh with Neighbors for Clean Air.
Greg Bourgois is the executive director and lead researcher at Portland Clean Air. It is an all volunteer organization conducting analysis on air quality data they receive from 8 agencies. They cooperatively work with 27 organizations and study air quality by neighborhood among many other things. He stated that Portland is one of the worse cities in the US for air pollution. Companies are not well regulated and unfiltered trucks are an issue particularly in Cully. Fact sheets and a wealth of information can be found at PortlandCleanAir.org.
Akash Singh works with Neighbors for Clean Air and the Institute for Sustainable Solutions. Currently technology is the driver for regulatory action. Governor Kate Brown has promised Oregonian a health based approach where our communities are put first. DEG needs to get this message. Their current director has no health background. Neighbors for Clean Air, besides advocating for a health based program, are also advocating for a lower cap on emissions, that a committee not just the DEQ director have the final authority to decide if a facility can continue to pollute beyond the permitted limit and that existing and new facilities have the same health standards. They are also concerned about the pollution from traffic and construction diesel emissions. Akash brought postcards for those interested in giving public comment. Fact Sheets are available by contacting Akash at Akash2whatsinourair.org or at 209 263 1774.
Advisory Vote on Broadmoor Land Zoning: Sept and Oct had presentations pro/con about a proposal that would change the zoning at Broadmoor. Rich Gunderson, board member of CAN, represents CAN at various city meetings about open spaces. He made a request that CAN oppose any zone change at Broadmoor. Rich Gunderson moved that CAN is opposed to any zone change to any part of or all of Broadmoor Golf Course property, second by Bob Granger. Motion carried unanimously.
Vote in Support of Portland US Energy Transition (JET): Alan Hipolito presented about this at the November meeting (see November minutes). He said he would send a letter asking for our support but we have not received it yet. He will be asked to come back to the February meeting. Bob Granger expressed reservation about the initiative process being used to promote this project and asked that the board consider closely what we are being asked to support.
Acceptance of General Meeting Minutes taken November 14, 2017: Mac McKinlay moved to accept the minutes from the November 14, 2017 general meeting, second by Greg Sotir. Motion carried.
Board Meeting Minutes from November 28, 2017 were available for all to see, Mac McKinlay gave a brief review.
Marilee Dea passed around a Cully Clean Up sign up sheet. Clean up will be simpler with less paperwork. Need lead people for volunteer recruitment and for communications which includes press releases and getting yard signs out. Next Cully Clean Up meeting is January 11, 2018 at Columbia Ecovillage from 6 – 7:30 pm.
Treasurers report: Fiscal year to date $5894 revenue; $ 9132.80 expenses. Bank balance end of November $24,136.50. Josh Heumann moved to accept the Treasurer’s report, second by Bob Granger. Motion carried.
Transportation report: David Sweet announced that the speed limit on NE 42nd Ave from Fremont to Holman has been approved to be lowered to 25 mph. New speed signs will be installed next week. Also, $17 million has been approved for new bridge on 42nd – 47th overpass. It will include bike and pedestrian access. Beginning design next month.
Kudos to David was expressed for all his work on Transportation issues in Cully.
CNN report: National Guard plane noise is a hot topic. Many neighborhoods have expressed their concern and we are being heard. CNN awarded two grants and Travis will report on that in January. They also discussed the homelessness issue and are committed to seeing what can be done for the homeless and for the neighborhoods.
Adjournment: Chris Browne moved to adjourn the meeting, second by Oscar Moreno Gilson. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 8:58 pm.