08/04/2014 City Council Work Session

Skyline Drive

With transportation always a city council priority, the Aug. 4 work session looked at a variety of modes, include mass transit and trails – along with a neighborhood association merger and sustainability.

TriMet Southwest Transit Enhancement Plan

The evening started with a presentation on transit and access to transit by TriMet planner Tom Mills.

Trimet is currently working on its Southwest Service Enhancement Plan that includes West Linn, Tigard, Lake Oswego, Tualatin, Southwest Portland, Durham and King City.

“A lot of the work TriMet has been doing fits nicely with the work that we plan to do as we update our transportation system plans,” Associate Planner Zach Pelz told the council.

Mills said TriMet was forced to cut back on service during the recession. Now, as the economy is starting to recover, TriMet is adding back service. In March, it restored $3.5 million of bus service, and this fall it will restore $7.1 million more of service, he said.

“We are working our way back to the pre-recession levels of 2009. But now is the time to start planning for growth,” Mills said. “Transit needs to be an important part of that.”

Currently, West Linn doesn’t have a lot of transit service. There is the Line 35 on Highway 43 that runs every half hour and Line 154, which runs hourly circling Willamette and the Oregon City Transit Center.

“Maybe we can serve West Linn a little differently than we have in the past,” Mills said.

TriMet is considering upping the frequency of Line 35 to every 15 minutes and replacing the underused Line 154 with a third party-funded community connector, which would allow for more route flexibility and scheduled pickups. The community connector would go to Tualatin and Bridgeport Village, where there is a park-and-ride lot.

The community connector would then free up Line 154 to do something different, Mills said, such as coming up the hill on Salamo and Hidden Springs, then head into Lake Oswego.  Line 154 would only be a rush hour bus, running every 15/30 minutes at peaks, but not all day.

“We like to be bold, but also realistic,” Mills said about growing and adding different transit opportunities.

TriMet hopes to have a final plan in place by spring of 2015, but it could take several years for changes in West Linn to happen.

Sustainability Advisory Board Civic Ecology Update

The council also heard an update from the city’s Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB), which has been updating the Sustainable West Linn Strategic Plan, last updated in 2006.

This year the SAB held three civic ecology workshops and invited the public. Out of the workshops arose the desire for four projects: a fruit tree project (identifying and making good use of the city’s many fruit trees), organizing a West Linn community garden team, creating a West Linn community cooperative and starting a tool lending library.

The SAB has recently shifted more of its focus away from how the government can be more sustainable to more citywide, how residents can promote sustainability projects on their own, Pelz said.

“You know the fruit tree project is something I’m very fond of,” Councilor Jody Carson said. “We have a lot of fruit and it is just going to waste.”

“I really do think we have some champions to take these projects on and move forward,” Councilor Thomas Frank said.

Transportation Advisory Board On-Street Trails/Pathways Capital Improvement Project Recommendation

The Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) recently took on the task of assessing all the on-street trails in West Linn – all 40 miles of them.

Their goal was to prioritize all the trails in the city in public right of way. Using a list of criteria and considering safety, the TAB created a list of connections ranked by the most needed to already completed projects.

“It was very important to us that we were creating connections that were safe, especially for our children,” TAB Chairwoman Joyce Jackson said.

The criteria the TAB used included proximity to schools, bus stops and commercial areas as well as how many connections each trail provided. Two things not considered in the criteria were project costs and topography.

What the board came up with is a two-page list (see attachment at bottom of page) of trails broken down into four tiers with Tier 1 being top priorities. A couple of the areas listed in Tier 1 include Hidden Springs Road, Willamette Falls Drive, Rosemont Road (currently undergoing improvements) and Skyline Drive (improvements being considered on the November ballot).

“All of these individual projects originated from the trails master plan,” Pelz said, noting the demand for better pedestrian access in West Linn.

“There is a lot of work in here,” Mayor John Kovash said. “It is an amazing amount of work and data. … We can use that.”

The next step in this process is to discuss what each project looks like and its scope, starting with the top tier projects.

“This is tremendous work,” City Manager Chris Jordan said, complimenting the TAB.

Neighborhood Association Merger Request

At next week’s meeting, the city council will consider a resolution merging the Hidden Springs and Rosemont Summit neighborhood associations.

According to Assistant City Manager Kirsten Wyatt, participation in the Hidden Springs NA is “very light” and Rosemont Summit NA has gone dormant with no board and no participation. The former presidents of the two NAs came to the city with the proposal to merge, in hopes of increasing engagement.

If merged, the two neighborhoods would be directed to work together to elect new officers, write new bylaws and come up with a new name.

If merged, the new NA would be the second largest in the city, second to the Willamette NA.

“I think this is a great idea,” Councilor Jenni Tan said. Other councilors noted that they have heard no opposition to the proposed merger.

Not sure what neighborhood association you live in or what the difference between a homeowners association and a neighborhood association is? Visit our website.

Skyline Drive Pedestrian and Bike Access

In more sidewalk news, the city council is expected to vote on a resolution next week to add a measure to the November ballot to plan a sidewalk on Skyline Drive, spanning from Clark Street down to West Linn High School.

The sidewalk is being considered as a component of the replacement of the 101-year-old Bolton Reservoir, which sits on Skyline Drive.

The outreach for the Bolton Reservoir Project and the “West Linn Moves” social media campaign for the Transportation Systems Plan (TSP) have resulted in many public requests for better pedestrian access along Skyline Drive and around Wilderness Park so residents and youth can travel to and from West Linn High School.

Skyline Drive is bounded by residential properties on the north side of the street and Wilderness Park on the south side of the street.

As the sidewalk would be placed on the northern perimeter of Wilderness Park, a vote is required. The city’s charter states that park property can only be used for park purposes, and since a sidewalk is not technically a park purpose, the easement needs voter approval.

 “I totally support this resolution,” Councilor Mike Jones said.

The public involvement process for the 2013 West Linn Trails Plan revealed that citizens find safe routes to local schools are lacking, making it difficult for all but the closest neighbors to walk or bike safely. The TSP identifies sidewalks and bike lanes along the portion of Skyline Drive that forms the northern perimeter of Wilderness Park as a priority.

“I think it is much needed,” Carson said.

Review of Aug. 11 agenda

The last item on the agenda, the council reviewed next week’s regular meeting agenda.

The meeting will be Aug. 11 at the new police station, 1800 Eighth Ave., with a ribbon-cutting ceremony starting at 6 p.m. and the meeting following.