Approved Minutes Center Neighborhood Association Monthly Meeting
February 20, 2007 7:00 P.M. @ The Shogren House Museum
INRODUCTIONS:
Board Members Present: Robert Jordan, Shirley Nacoste, Judy Kennedy, Barry Bradie, Don McElmurry, Marsha
Hahn, Sean Besso, DyLynn Robertson
Neighbors & Guests: Neighbors, Jason Skelton, Richard Glenn and Gerta Allen, Lee Perlman (Press) and Officer
John Fulitano (S.E. Precinct)
ACTIONS:
Minutes were approved from the January 2007 meetings.
Approved motion to donate $100 to Grant High School’s Graduation Party.
Approved motion to donate $100 to Grant High School’s Debate Team’s trip fund.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Next C.N.A. General Meeting will be held on May 15, 2007. May will be Center Board Elections time and
officers will be nominated in June.
Robert continues to work on updating the C.N.A. Bylaw. With guidance from S.E.U.L. this will bring out Bylaws
into compliance with the new O.N.I. Guidelines. Robert will send out draft copies for our review and these will
be voted on in May at the General Meeting.
Officer Fulitano reported a drop in crime in the overall neighborhood and vehicle break-ins are down in all of S.E.
with the exception of Mt. Tabor Park. Also stated that a 57th & Hoyt area “grow site” was busted. armed intruder
rapes near Laurelhurst area have occurred; canine units will be added to S.E. Precinct; and that the Precinct is
used for “staging” during big events so they have concerns with the new development at 47th and Burnside as to
how it will affect parking.
Next Outreach Committee Meeting is March 7, 2007 6:30 p.m. at Center Commons.
Next Land Use Quarterly Meeting is March 22, 2007 7:00 p.m. at S.E. Precinct
Newsletter will be distributed in late April. Submissions due by April 6th to DyLynn Robertson.
Providence Neighborhood Meeting rescheduled to March 6 from 7 to 8 p.m.
Continue to consider other possible monthly meeting locations with a possible switch after the General Meeting in
may.
COMMITTEES:
Treasurer: $1,500-ish in checking and $5000-ish in the money market account. No word yet regarding money
from now defunct Glisan Area Business Association.
Land Use & Transportation: Sean reports that the Bureau of Planning has provided additional time to include
more neighbors in the discussion of the requested height adjustment and setbacks for 47th and Burnside
development. Neighbors have participated in several meetings with Mr. Moholt-Siebert and will meet again on
2/22/07 at S.E. Precinct. The city wide Land Use Forum will host a discussion on infill on 3/17/07. Infill issues
in Center neighborhood will be increasing!
Robert reported contact he made with TriMet regarding the request for a bus shelter at Fred Meyer and suggests
that perhaps Fred Meyer can provide some funding for this project.
SEUL Liaison: Shirley was unable to attend S.E.U.L.’s meeting due to illness. While long-term financial
support continues to be a concern for S.E.U.L., an art raffle on 2/16/07 will provide some funding in the
immediate future.
Connections/Outreach: (from Outreach Meeting minutes 2/6/07). “The group discussed approaches to the
current problems tenants in the Center Commons senior building are having. Steve March, former state
representative, former chairperson of C.N.A., and resident of Center neighborhood, who was involved in the
Center commons development plan was here to give a historical perspective and help with problem-solving.
The group talked about the fact that Center Commons is a TOD (Transit Oriented Development) and that transit
problems should have been simplified here. Instead there are many parking problems, with many more people
owning and parking cars than the planning committee anticipated. Steve March talked about the history of the
planning and development of Center Commons. Before a development plan was decided on, a survey was given
to neighbors that helped decide what kind of development was needed. He had several suggestions about what we
should do now:
 Conduct a survey of people in and around Center Commons to get a vision of
o what problems are seen by residents of the area,
o what people want to see done about the problems, and
o who would be willing to work on a committee to deal with the problems. (He feels a core group of
10 – 20 persons are needed).
 Send results of the above work to Center Commons management, owners, and to the Portland Development
Commission. The Center Neighborhood Association could act as a buffer (neutral party), since many
tenants are afraid of retribution if they complain.”
Rosemont Bluff Grant Info: (from Outreach Meeting Minutes 2/6/07). “April Burris brought up the issue of
Rosemont Bluff. The City of Portland is working with her PSU professor in the Urban Studies school to offer
grants of up to $5,000 to carry out green space projects. These projects could include eco-roofs, storm-water
features, education monitoring, restoration, and nature-scaping. If a group, such as “Friends of Rosemont Bluff”
could be formed, they could apply for grant funds. Rosemont Bluff is the only public green space contained
within Center Neighborhood at this time. We discussed possibly linking work on Rosemont Bluff to the juvenile
detention facility. Shirley will contact Tim Nacoste, who works at the facility, about a possible partnership.”
Robert attended a meeting of the Community Watershed Stewardship grants project in mid-February and will start
a rough draft of plans. We need more folks to help out on this. April is more available after the PSU terms ends
on 3/23/07.
Newsletter: Submissions for early May newsletter must be delivered to DyLynn Robertson by April 6. We will
hand-deliver copies on the last weekend of April. Gerta, Sean, Don, and Shirley already volunteered to do areas
near their homes. Newsletter Committee will meet in early March to discuss further plans.
Annual Clean-Up: Sean will connect with John for paperwork and to decide on a date. It was suggested that
perhaps teens from Franklin or Grant could be encouraged to help out at this event.
Meeting Adjourned at 8:26 p.m.
Notes submitted by DyLynn Robertson, C.N.A. Secretary
April 19, 2007