September 2015 Committee Meeting Minutes

Post date: Oct 04, 2015 3:14:30 AM

Sept. FANFH Coord. Committee Minutes

Meeting called to order by Chair Carole Ockert at 6:35 pm

Attending: Carole Ockert, David Rudawitz, Linda Rudawitz, Sharon Gustafson, Glenn Lowe, Dennis O’Neil, Martin Monto, Chris Clee, Jim Bolland

- Treasurer Report - $331.11 no change from previous month

- School Traffic at Forest Hills – This topic was a continuation of the discussion from last week. The decision of the Coordinating Committee was to monitor the results of the revised school traffic plan and hold back on any comment unless problems develop.

- Tree Subcommittee Report (S. Gustafson) followed by a discussion on the relationship between the Tree Subcommittee and Coordinating Committee. Tree Committee is still active and commenting on tree permits. There is a subgroup that is working on a mission statement for the Tree Committee. Members of the Tree Committee were advised that they could personally appeal permits but that any decision to make an appeal on behalf of the FANFH coordinating Committee had to be brought before the FANFH Coordinating Committee first. D. Rudawitz provided a short report on the activity of the City-wide Ad Hoc Tree Committee. The FNAFH Coordinating Committee agreed to forward any pertinent reports and data to the Ad Hoc Committee for their consideration.

- Pre-App Report – There was a brief discussion about the current redevelopment project at the corner of State and A Street which is a façade and sidewalk improvement project. The FANFH Coordinating Committee agreed that they were very supportive of this type of small project that provide immediate benefits to the community.

- Neighborhood Mtg. on 4th St. Townhome Project Update – This project is on 4th Street across the street from the Post Office and Rossman Park. The developer wanted to install a flat “green” roof over a portion of the building and that such a roof would count towards their requirement for landscaping. Although the developer asserted that this had been approved by the City, City email to C. Ockert was to the contrary. C. Ockert also stressed to the Developer not to bypass working with the FANFH Neighborhood. This development is not clear and objective and the Developer, at this time, stated that they were not seeking any variances.

- Demolition Noticing - C. Ockert followed up with Scott Segal and provided some ideas for noticing. These included City provided door hangers to be distributed by the Developer. Any requirement for noticing would necessitate a code change that would have to be passed by the City Council. C. Ockert will review the program that the city of Portland is pursuing for demolition notifications.

- Stafford Stone Fundraising - C. Ockert distributed the flyer being used for the financial development effort to fund the $5000 needed for this monument. The City already contributed $10,000 and so far only $450 has been raised towards the $5000. The foundation only wants donations at $250 or greater each. It was suggested that perhaps FANFH could aggregate smaller donations to build up to the minimum.

- Multiple Duplex Work Session at Council - C. Ockert reported on the previous night’s City Council session on this topic. The Council will be protecting R-2 and single duplex on a lot. Current staff suggested code would provide multidwelling at the expense of open space on lot. M. Monto moved and G. Lowe seconded a motion for FANFH to testify in support of the planning commission position and would be open to a future task force to study the multidwelling option. Motion carried.

- Multi-Family Parking in R0 - FANFH perspective - M. Monto moved and G. Lowe seconded a motion for FANFH to recommend to the City Council that visitor parking should not be behind a locked gate but must be publicly accessible. Motion carried.

- Forest Hills Sign Site – The Coordinating Committee was advised by a concerned resident that the Forest Hills sign site at the 6 street intersection was in poor condition. C. Ockert will direct the concerned resident to contact appropriate city office.

- School District Citizens Academy – C. Ockert announced that the School Board will be conduction a School District Citizens Academy to provide those attending with specifics about how the School Board does business. No one on committee was interested in applying.

- Additional

    1. C. Ockert will be working on a “better know a City department” program. Such a program would facilitate neighborhood association members to receive detailed information from various City departments on how they do business and function.

    2. Jerry Good has filed a FOIA request with the City on the Weizer project. As a result of this request, it was learned that the required financial commitment letter was never filed by the project with the City. Thus, there was no verification that the project had sufficient funding and should not have been allowed to proceed without this letter.

- October Meeting Location – As of this meeting, no location has been secured for the October 2015 meeting. C. Ockert advised that the Library will not accept reservations more than two weeks in advance. There are only a very small handful venues in FANFH that are suitable for a meeting. The Fire Department meeting room is not available in the evenings.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:24 pm.