Corbett Community Forum

NEMCCA - Northeast Multnomah County Community Association

Safety Meeting notes for Sept 4, 2024

 
Multnomah County Emergency Services:  R. Higgins - sent in as unable to make the meeting

In response to the excessive heat forecast from the NWS, the County is planning to extend library hours at Central Library and Gresham Library on Thursday and Friday until 8:00 p.m. We're also planning to open two cooling centers, Portland Christian Church in NE Portland and Cook Plaza in Gresham, from noon until 9:00 p.m. both days. The City of Portland will keep 7 interactive fountains operating during this period and will be installing misting stations at park locations around the city.

Near-surface smoke is expected to affect much of Multnomah County from Wednesday afternoon, with moderate to unhealthy air quality for sensitive groups.

East County from Troutdale eastward is under a Fire Weather Watch for Wednesday evening into Thursday evening.

Stay safe and keep cool!

 
Multnomah County Roads: T. Kunter- sent in as unable to make the meeting

(Responding to question from August 2024 meeting)
For the Yield sign on Corbett Hill Road that was asked to be moved, the reason this sign is on the left downhill side and not the right downhill side is because on the left side it creates a single yield for just that lane (yielding to both the uphill lane and right hand lane). If we were to make the left hand open and the right side a yield, we would also have to yield the uphill traffic turning left onto HCRH, yielding to the downhill left lane. This situation would double the yield locations and create more interactions with vehicles, double yields are especially dangerous and require very special cases to allow since they often increase accident potential. So while the roadway design is certainly not ideal, the yield sign here is meant to be the easiest and safest way to address traffic flow.

(This lead to some discussion and a white board drawing for clarification.  If you are coming down Corbett Hill from the West entry, you will find the yield sign just before the East side joining of the Y.  You need to Yield to the vehicle to the right of you, and also to anyone who is coming Up Corbett Hill and turning across the traffic to go East on the Old Scenic Highway.  It was suggested that anyone who is traveling in the area pause long enough to make sure this is understood by the person who has the yield.)

Additional Discussion was held surrounding the Stark Street Bridge and the safety cone next to the barricade edging into the lane.  The current situation is not ideal, but the damage to the wall when the vehicle hit it impacted the support structure and the barricade can't go back further.  The County tried putting a water barricade up but it was punctured, so this is being tried to keep the bridge open.  If people crossing the bridge coming in to Corbett stay around one car length back when waiting for the person turning on to the Old Highway, people turning right on to the bridge have room to come slightly into the opposing lane to safely enter the bridge and keep traffic flowing.  It takes a little planning ahead, but for the local people in the room, it does appear this is being done.

 Historical Society: M. Freund

Railing is up around the building, waiting to hear from their contractor, Dick Wand, on framing and electrical permits. Once those items are complete the insulation and sheet rocking can get started, subs are lined up for those projects.

 

Grange: C. Mitas

Helping Hands will be having a coat day on September 15, 2024. They are getting donations from coat barrels and Columbia Sportswear.

Senior lunches are being held the last Monday of the month, 11am -1pm, with soup and sandwiches upstairs in the Grange.

October 5, 2024 Menucha will be hosting a Blues Concert at the Grange, 6:30 to 9 pm.

The Grange is trying a new approach and hiring people who can assist with programs.  Lizzie Wilson will be doing an array of workshops surrounding music, and there will be an opening for other workshop providers.


Corbett School District: D. Fialkiewicz

The school year has begun with a great start!

There were issues with Howard Road and they had to suspend bus travel.  Work started immediately on repairing the road and the bus travel will resume as soon as all parents are notified.

Traffic in front of the school has been going well.  The District sent out traffic flow pattern maps for the parents and that has helped keep things flowing.

There is a Corbett School District newsletter available for those who would like to see what is going on in the schools.  If you don't want a hard copy, there is a digital copy available.  https://corbett.k12.or.us/2024/08/29/september-2024-corbett-school-district-newsletter/

Middle school classes will be going to Buck Creek during the next six weeks for place based learning.  This use to happen every year, but has been on hold for a while.

There was a break in at the Middle School.  Cameras were turned away from the parking lot and the copper under one building was stolen.  This was the building that was going to be for the students to eat in, so that will be delayed.  Cost to replace the removal of around $50 of salvage will be about $5,000.  If you drive by the middle school and see the gate open and its after dark and there is no obvious event going on, please report it.

The parking lot lights at the middle school were receiving complaints for being too bright. It turned out that PGE had installed some large lights outside of the middle school plan.  The ones by the District met the Dark Sky Initiative.  The PGE lights issue has been resolved.

The school crossing zone has not been moving forward as desired.  Discussion to contact AskODOT or call 1-888-275-6368 and the suggestion that parents who are interested in getting some action please contact them to help move the item up in line.  Maybe reach out to the PTA to spearhead the movement.

 BOEC: S. Mawdsley

Worked with BOEC for 20 years, will be rotating with a few others to the Safety Meetings.  Please let the person attending know what specific information we'd like to see brought out to the meetings and they will get it.

It has been a busy summer, as people are out doing activities they may not be doing at other times, but the other seasons stay pretty busy too.

The department is seeing regular certifications in call taking and police/fire/medical dispatch.  There have been eleven new trainees brought all, bright and intelligent individuals, and there are now 42 total in training.  The recruitments happen 3-4 times a year, it takes two years to certify, but people only need to give a two week notice, so attrition is a factor.

There are currently 107 certified 911 call taking employees right now, up from 86 at this time last year, this is the high increase in one year that the department has experienced.

(Discussion: The department has funding for 136 positions, right now they are at 127 with the trainees.  This past month, the number estimated to answer calls in the desired time frame would have been 150 (July and August) and there were times that even a few more would have been beneficial.

There is an immediate mental health support peer team available for those who are handling traumatic calls, and a Chaplain is also now available.  The mental health of the call takers and dispatchers is very important, and they realize its not just a major trauma call that impacts the overall health, its also the build up of minor calls over time that stack up.  The department teaches self-care.

TIPS (Trauma Intervention Program) is an organization that assists survivors of a trauma incident and are not called out by BOEC, but by the fire or police agencies.)

There is a higher call volume in the summer, but following a 35% increase over the last four years, this year there was an 8% reduction in calls.

Wait time for 911 is improving, in 2022 the average time was 90 seconds over a 24 hour period.  In 2023 it was 56 seconds and right now it is 51 seconds on average.

(Discussion:  This is just for 911 calls, the non-emergency calls are taken after the 911 calls have been cleared.  Wait times in the past have been known to get a long, but with the new hires wait times are seeing improvements in all areas.  It can also depend on when you're calling.)

Case Service is the automated non-emergency attendant that is taking care of about a third of the incoming calls, which has helped free up call takers and reduce waiting times.

The next training academy starts in November, and the next recruitment is most likely to open in February.

(Discussion:  If you would like to learn more on statistics, the Director's report comes out monthly.
https://www.portland.gov/911/directors-report )

 

Community Patrol: R. Uleners

There are new uniforms the volunteers and  new graphics on the vehicles.  There are also fewer volunteers right now, down from 20 to 10.

(Discussion:  We're missing MCSO today, does anyone know why?  Deputy Kaiser has been moved to traffic patrol for the next 90 days, possibly longer.  His work days have also been changed to Friday through Monday.)

Pioneer Picnic is Sunday, September 8, 2024 from 10-1 at the Fire Station.

 
Corbett Water District: A. Linden

Its been a busy summer, doing planned infrastructure work, and planning ahead for what needs done for the winter.

Have been talking with FEMA and working on insurance claims.

This summer one of the goals was to finish the line along Hurlburt and get the houses that are on the old line switched over.  With the work being done in that area there will be two sources of water to Springdale and the loss of water to the area won't happen again.

Working on the water issue at Old Scenic Highway and Center Road.  There is one more service line to check, thank you to ODOT for your suggestions.

There was a great meeting about the well. The new company looked over the feasibility study and there will need to be some discussion about having another feasibility study done, whether or not to move the location of the well, and what does Mr. Hargens want done to the existing well site. The well did provide a lot of geographical information for the area.

There was a settlement from the engineering company ($425,000) and from the well drillers ($75,000), the over all cost of the well was around $1,200,000.  More grant money is available, the amount of coverage would vary depending on which route the Board takes going forward.

The district got a grant from the Bureau of Reclamation for a hydraulic study for fire flow on hydrants and to prioritize capital improvements.

The winter storm has made the district look at redundancy staffing, also the Paid Leave Oregon Act.  You have to hold the position open for the staff member to return, but if you need two people to do the job, and one is off, do you hire three people so you have the coverage you need?

The District received an SDAO grant to do GIS. (Geographic Information System).  This will be a digital map of the district showing the infrastructure.  Keith is moving the old maps to the digital system.  Keith filled their summer intern position, which they may be extending beyond summer.

There was a recent tour of the watershed with the botany teacher from the high school and following AP testing in May, the AP Biology students are looking to do some studies at the District's second intake pond.

Discussion:  Black capped water hydrants, is there going to be any changes to them off black?  The black caps are towards the end of the line and it means they are below 100 gallons per minute of flow, which is not ideal.  They are trending below their historical tests and the district has been doing adjustments to PRVs and trying to track down why the flow is reduced.

 
Springdale Job Corp: R. Morris

Funding has been approved by the Department of Labor for the dormitory roof repairs.  Now they need to wait for the process to take place to get the funds received, but once that is done they can get the roof done and start on the inside repaired, filling the campus back to full occupancy.

On October 3 there is a Faith & Blue event at the Corbett Community Church from 5:30 -8.  There will be command staff, deputies and search and rescue.  Food will be provided.  (They are asking for people to rsvp so they know how much food to bring. jessie.volker@mcso.us)

 
Oregon Parks and Rec Department: J. Starr

Coming to the end of the summer season and staff reductions will be starting.  There are currently 23 staff members and it will be down to five by October.

Right now parks close at 10pm where there are posted signs (otherwise parks are open dawn to dusk).  Closing times dropped to 9pm last Tuesday and will be further reduced to 8pm on September 23, 2024.  When daylight savings arrives the parks will close at 6pm.

Volunteer Appreciation Day is September 8, 2024 from 2:30 to 5:00 at the Cascade Locks Pavilion.  There will be refreshments and a slide show.

September 14, 2024 will the last star party of the year at Rooster Rock.  This is hosted by OMSI, and will be an Autumnal Equinox Celebration. Volunteers bring telescopes for you to view the stars, and you can also bring your own.

https://omsi.edu/events/omsi-star-party/

Vista House is doing an architectural survey to prioritize what projects need down now as a stop gap measure to keep water out of the building.  The plans are 30% completed, and they have hired a project manager to assist.

 
ODOT: T. Lingely  K. Kalsch

The recent accident involving two semis on I-84 had traffic self diverting down the Old Scenic Highway, unfortunately some were ignoring weight and length restrictions and the shoring on the Viaduct that was under repair was unable to support the traffic.  This led to an urgent shut down of the Scenic Highway until additional work could be done to make the Viaduct safe.  The plan is to reopen the Highway prior to the Oct 1 planned closure.

The West Viaduct is closed to all, vehicle, bikes, pedestrians, and there are flaggers there 24/7.  Please park in legal spots only, and be aware the turn around area is for those no longer than 35 feet.  If you're longer than that it will require shutting down the road to back you out.

(Discussion: if you're going to shut it down again in a couple weeks, why reopen?  ODOT has agreements with those that do business in the area to be open until the end of the busy summer season and they will be honoring those agreements.
PS- traffic did open on Sept 6th)

The planned shut down of the Historical Highway is scheduled for Oct 1, 2024.  There will be a huge push going out for the planned closure to the media.  The closure will be from Oct 1, 2024 to mid-May 2025, then again Oct 1, 2025 to mid-May 2026 for the East Viaduct.  There will be no decking on the viaducts, which is why there is no passage for anyone, including pedestrians.

Wahkeena Trail is open, but it is not recommended you park at the trail head.

Timed use permits have ended for the season, flaggers will be at the cross walk through Sept 9, 2024.  The parking lot across from Multnomah Falls is a privately owned one and parking there will still be charged, but prices will drop.  Follow Sasquatch Shuttle for more details:  https://sasquatchshuttle.com/

There will be lane closures soon between the landslide area and the Vista House on the Old Highway while rail repair is being done.

With the planned highway closure this winter it will be difficult to do normal work during the winter from Ainsworth to Angels Rest.  Ice and snow removal may take longer since they will need to have space to turn the plows around.

ODOT is looking at a potential 30% reduction in funds for maintenance as of June 2025.  This year they are operating with the same budget as last year, but cost have increased, so services will have to be prioritized.  I-84 is priority 1, with work being done from the center line out.  There may not be any spraying or mowing of vegetation, it will depend on what they hear back from the Legislature this coming year.  Capital improvement projects (bridges, viaduct repairs) come out of a different part of the budget and funds have already been set aside, so they will continue.  It is the maintenance budget that will be impacted.

Historical Advisory Committee meeting at the Troutdale Sheriff's office Sept 5, 2024, 9 am to noon.

Still looking for a Governor's Representative for Multnomah County.  You apply through WorkDay and if you need help filing out the information Terra is available to assist: terra.m.lingley@odot.oregon.gov

Mitchell Point tunnel will be opening this Fall, with a celebration held on a Saturday.  Access will be by shuttle and the trail will only be open at that time to pedestrians.