2008-04-15

HIDDEN SPRINGS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION MINUTES MEETING OF APRIL 15, 2008 CALL TO ORDER. The meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM at the West Linn Adult Community Center by President, Lynn C. Fox. Other officers in attendance: Harvey Schultz, Vice President; Donna Baker, Treasurer. QUORUM DATA. There were a total of 41 members in attendance at the January and February 2008 meetings, therefore the quorum was 4. There were 10 members at the start of the meeting MINUTES OF THE MARCH 18, 2008 MEETING. There being no additions or corrections, President Fox declared the minutes approved as submitted. TREASURER’S REPORT. Treasurer Donna Baker reported a balance of $1,143.57. ANNOUNCEMENTS. Savanah Oak Neighborhood Association, formerly Tanner Basin Neighborhood Association, will be holding a fundraiser dance on 5/16/08, call (503)723-5015 for more information. An auction will be held in August. Rosemont Ridge PTO representative Cathy Dudley invited all to the RRMS PTO Fundraiser Dinner Among Our Stars on April 26, call (503) 673-7550 to make your reservations. Jeff Cumpston will hold his farewell concert on April 18th at 7PM at West Linn High. The Brass Monkey Band will be performing. For more info contact www.cumpston/us. Old Business: 1.) Bike Boulevard report. Metro requires that West Linn update its Traffic Safety Plan (TSP) and a Bicycle Boulevard has been proposed for Pimlico as part of the updated plan. Designation as a Bicycle Boulevard gives priority use of that street to bicycles and secondary priority to motorized vehicles. Motorized vehicles can be routed on to parallel streets, in this case Palomino Way, by the use of signage, markings on the roadway and/or hard scape installations like planter strips and median strips. Residents were referred to the bike boulevards installed in the area north of the Lloyd Center on NE 15th and 17th streets in Portland. There has been no final decision yet. David Rittenhouse expressed concerns regarding the grade. David Newell from Bolton was the West Linn representative on the committee that wrote the updated TSP which can be viewed on line at the city’s website www.ci.west-linn.or.us. The city may still be taking public comments regarding the TSP update and the Bike Boulevard designations. Please contact City Engineer Dennis Wright if you have any questions (503)657-0331 or contact Lynn (503)655-6347 if you wish to participate in the Pimlico Task Force. 2.) The Kantarra Way appeal to the City Council will be heard on April 28, 2008. In the appeal to the City Council regarding the commercial development adjacent to the library recently the Council’s tie vote constituted approval for the application since a tie vote means the Planning Commission decision stands. Since there were discrepancies in the Kantarra Way applicant’s consultant’s reports regarding the location and number of fire hydrants, this application has significance for residents who live along this very large drainage way that runs from Highway 43 to the Suncircle area and for the ability of TVFR to effectively and safely fight fires in the area. Local residents are strongly encouraged to attend the appeal to the City Council on April 28, 2008. 3.) “Brass” plaques installed on street signs identifying the area as part of Hidden Springs Neighborhood Association are being discussed at previous meetings. Mr. Green and City Engineering staff members are assisting HSNA in choosing an appropriate design and identifying appropriate streets for the installation of the plaques. The “Brass” Plaque Project would lead to an increased sense of community, help residents attend the correct Neighborhood meeting, help new residents and visitors would know what Neighborhood area they were in and help realtors more easily identify the area for the clients. The Engineering department provided visual aids to show members what the brasslike plaques look like. The City has requested assistance from the NA locating appropriate intersections that would provide the most beneficial locations. The cost is approximately $37.00 per plaque. The cost would be paid for out of the HSNA yearly stipend. The HSNA Board requests that citizens review the information and email the board at wlhsna@msn.com and specify the intersections where they would like to see the Neighborhood area identification plaques installed. New Business: 1.) Lake Oswego/Tualatin Joint Water Supply System Analysis Draft Report: West Linn and Oregon City currently own 50% each of South Fork Water Board. Since West Linn has so little commercial property, its 50% ownership of the equity in South Fork water is valuable asset that helps compensate for the lack of commercial property in West Linn. Since the asset water equity asset belongs to the citizens of West Linn, any attempt to dilute ownership should have citizen approval. Bob Thomas moved and Donna Baker seconded: That HSNA ask the City Council to call for an election to submit to the voters a proposal to amend the West Linn City Charter to require voter approval prior to any change to reduce the City’s share of ownership in the South Fork Water Board. 9 (Nine) Approved 0 (Zero) Opposed 0 (Zero) Abstaining The Motion Passed. 2.) Access to Public Records: President Lynn Fox provided copies of emails between City Staff and herself regarding the offer from City Manager Chris Jordan to allow residents to “go over the records at City Hall”. The City Manager’s offer was limited to the week of March 17th according to the emails from City Staff. On March 15, 2008, Lynn Fox advised Finance Director Andy Parks that pursuant to Mr. Jordan’s offer, several residents wished to examine the cancelled checks written from the City of West Linn to the West Linn Chamber of Commerce since the current Council was elected to office, all written during Finance Director Parks’ tenure with the City. On March 19, 2008 Ms. Fox was advised by the city that these citizens could meet with Mr. Parks on March 20, 2008 between 5:00PM and 6:00PM to examine these records. Several residents could not accommodate such short (less than 24 hours) notice and asked for a meeting the next week or later. Lynn was advised that the City would not extend the City Manager’s offer beyond the week of the 17th. Although several interested citizens could not attend the March 20, 2008 meeting, four did manage to clear their schedules and meet with Mr. Parks on March 20th. Despite prior notification provided to Mr. Parks regarding the specific items citizens wished to examine, Mr. Parks arrived several minutes tardy to the meeting with no records and advised us he did not know where the City’s cancelled checks were or how to locate them. When we asked him what records he did have relative to the items in question, he left the attendees for about 20 minutes and returned with a handful of computer printouts he advised us represented the only payments made to the Chamber by the City since the current Council took office. We had no means to verify that the vendor numbers represented the Chamber and knew that most of the information we had requested was not addressed in the printouts because the data they did contain did not correspond to City Council decisions of record. Since the requested public information had been denied to these citizens, I submitted a second request to examine the records regarding the Chamber and was advised by Mr. Parks that it would cost me $100.00 per hour and he anticipated that it would take at least 6 hours to locate the information and I would need to pay $600.00 to see this public information. Copies would cost extra. The initial request involved a few cancelled checks but based on Mr. Parks’ anticipated charges for six hours of research time, it seems there must be much more information regarding these charges and checks than citizens originally thought. Based on the new information from Mr. Parks indicating that the issue is more widespread then just few checks, the members of HSNA passed the following resolution: David Blankeheim moved and Bob Thomas seconded: That the City of West Linn provide the public information requested by HSNA officers and waive any and all fees and charges for public information requests regarding West Linn payments to the West Linn Chamber of Commerce, the Local Chapter of the Ice Age Institute or any requests for money from Mark Buser that were granted by the West Linn City Council or the West Linn City Manger. 9 (Nine) Approved 0 (Zero) Opposed 0 (Zero) Abstained The Motion passed. 3.) West Linn City Advisory Board Appointments: Board Appointments pursuant to the West Linn Municipal Code were briefly discussed and a request was made to continue this discussion at a subsequent meeting. 4.) On April 22nd, Earth Day, Rosemont Ridge student volunteers will be removing invasive species and replanting tress in the area on the South side of Palomino Loop Trail where the tree canopy was inadvertently disrupted. Adjacent residents are encouraged to participate and provide guidance and support. Please call Lynn at (503)655-6347 if you have any questions, request or suggestions. 5.) Chapter 99: Chapter 99 of the Community Development Code (CDC) concerns the process of decision making regarding the Neighborhood Associations and the Planning Commission. Proposed changes would entail 1.) 2007 Hillsboro system – Planning Commission three member board 2.) The Planning Director, a paid employee responsible to the City Manager, not an elected official or someone appointed by an elected official, would make quasi judicial decisions 3.) Creation of a five member review board 4.) Leave as is per request of the Planning Commission. After discussion and general recognition that this issue had not received much public participation and discussion, Donna Baker moved and Dan Blankenheim seconded: That Hidden Springs Neighborhood Association respectfully requests that the City Council reopen the public record and reopen the public hearing to reconsider proposed changes to Chapter 99 for the purpose to better inform the Neighborhood Associations and all citizens of West Linn of the nature and the impact of the proposed changes. 5 (Five) Approved 0 (Zero) Opposed 0 (Zero) Abstained The Motion passed Page – Four Hidden Springs Neighborhood Association April 15, 2008 NEXT MEETING DATE IS MAY 20, 2008. ADJOURNMENT. There being no other business to come before the membership, the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 PM by President Lynn C. Fox. Recorded by HSNA Vice President Harvey Schulz