Piedmont. Portland's Emerald.

Date:	April 20, 2023
Time:	7:00 pm  Board Members Shaun, Deanne, Brian and 27 neighbors attended

1. Welcome and Introductions

• Everyone present put name in bowl for drawing

2. Guest Megan Trevarthan to discuss Earth Day Clean Up at Farragut Park

• Flyer for clean-up was distributed with QR code to register
• 10 am Saturday April 22; Farragut Park; bring gloves; all other supplies will be provided
• Megan hopes to do these monthly – especially in the summer
• Please reach out to Megan if you would like to help with future cleanups

3. Shaun – Update on Rosa Parks Art Piece – after talking with RACC and presenting at City Hall there are two options that could happen at this point.

• RACC and Parks come up with something together in Peninsula Park for $12k
• Or, it gets folded into the city’s art inventory with a new set of rules, regulations, and possibly additional funding
• Neighbor Lynn Kimbrough offered to help Shaun with this

4. David – Update from North Portland Chairs Meeting

• The CEI infrastructure group is offering to do a presentation regarding an expansion of the Zenith’s expansion of their Portland terminal. They are going to all neighborhood associations and held an event on 4/20.
• NPNS  Inc. looking to become a 501(c)3
• Interstatebridge.org has an on-line open house for all things related to a new Interstate Bridge
• Preliminary discussion began regarding gunshot detection cameras, but not much to report on at this time
• The recent missteps and lapses regarding O&D Insurance coverage provided  by the city for NAs has been corrected.

5. Map of Piedmont showing postcard coverage and where still needed

• All remaining postcards have been handed out to volunteers; once distribution map is updated there may need to be a second printing.
• It was clarified, after some confusion at the last meeting, that substantial structural changes were made to the survey based on feedback received at all 3 previous meetings.
• Survey to close May 12, 2023

6. Drawing! 

• Lynn Kimbrough and Jace Mc each won a $25 gift card to Casa Zoraya. These were graciously donated to us by the restaurant
• We asked everyone present to consider asking their favorite restaurants for donations as well

7. Upcoming meeting promotion

• May 18 – Survey results, Wine+Cheese+Art
• June 15– Guest speakers TBD re: crime and homelessness, all about Block Parties

JC meyercrosby has volunteered to help line up speakers for this

• July 20– New Orleans style cookout in Peninsula Park
• August 17 – Block Party – Crickets from Community Center re: NNO

On Holman, between Michigan and Mississippi

8. Open the floor for any Comments, Questions, Concerns, New Business, Announcements, etc. Topics brought up, announcements and suggestions made :

• Speeding on Albina – neighbor was referred to Mary Jaron Kelley at the city for suggestions on who to reach out to help with this
• Neighbor Rebecca is super interested in bike lane expansion and a continuing connection between neighborhoods. She was also referred to Mary at the city for guidance around this.
• Arbor Lodge Tree Team meets 2^nd Wednesdays at Arbor Beer Lodge (6550 N. Interstate) – reach out to Rhett Lawrence for more info
• Friends of Trees not teaching folks how to prune trees has led to many ADA violations; it was discussed that the relationship between the city and FOT has dissolved leading to a different agency doing plantings, though it wasn’t clear exactly which agency it is. Additionally, it could be wrongly assumed they would keep the tree trimmed as they planted it and the parking strip is considered public property. It was suggested to report bad sidewalks to PDXReporter.org as one neighbor has fallen several times in the last few months. It is the homeowner’s responsibility to keep their trees pruned and maintained, not FOT or the City. The City/Urban Forestry does often host tree pruning workshops. Neighborhood tree teams often prune trees, as volunteers.
• FOT is having a plant sale, this Saturday at 3117 NE MLK, from 10 to 12.
• MetroPaint is partnering with Earth Day Oregon to host a paint drive and giveaway from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 22.at 4825 N. Basin
• From April 21-24, free compost can be picked up at 9325 NE Sunderland Rd from 7-5.
• There was interest in having a Parks department employee be a guest speaker to discuss multiple issues at our two parks in general and the status and future plans for park bathrooms in particular. It was suggested to call Dan Ryan’s office for immediate issues. 503-823-3589. 
• There was also interest in a Neighborhood Emergency Team – as it turns out Piedmont does have one. It is combined with Kenton’s and Arbor Lodge’s. arborlodgeprepares@gmail.com for more info. Someone on Twitter is trying to organize hubs around this as well, but more information was not readily available.
• It was asked why the meetings are in a church

Clarification was made that Trinity is a school first and foremost.

It was explained that Deanne tried for months to secure the Community Room at the Parks+King development, but despite many strongly worded emails, she was ultimately denied access. It was further clarified that the PNA cannot afford to have meetings anywhere that charges a fee for usage, such as the June Key Delta House or the Holy Redeemer small hall where we used to meet. Restaurants and bars are out as folks don’t want to have to spend money or be unable to bring their children. Private homes are out as not all are ADA compliant. The Peninsula Park Community Center, another place we used to meet, now closes at 7, thus would cost money to be kept open for us. 

Brian Borrello offered to look into General Industry again as we have used that space in the past as well. While we are not sure if the owner would still be amenable to us, it is an option if additional concern mounts regarding the current location.

• A suggestion was made to require masks at meetings

9. Fellow resident Flame led a round table discussion regarding inclusiveness. 

• In addition to kindness and respect for everyone’s time, boundaries, and pronouns, the biggest suggestion here was to hold hybrid meetings that include a Zoom option for folks who would otherwise be unable to attend a meeting. Neighbor Quinn Thereaux offered to help with this.

Meeting adjourned at 8:20 and folks were free to mingle until 8:40.