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Safety Meeting Notes
Northeast Multnomah County Community Association
NEMCCA
May 7, 2025

Corbett School District: D. Fialkiewicz
School year wraps up on May 30th, that will be a half day getting out at 12:30, please be aware as traffic patterns will be different.
As you are aware there has been a posting on the local facebook page, the school is doing its own investigation into the accusations. They are working with Vice Chair Leah Fredericks and will come out with a statement once their investigation is concluded.
Rhiannon Young has been named as one of the finalist for the On-Point teacher of the year.  The winner will be announced at the end of the month.
There has been a great partnership with the Springdale Job Corp, also with Menucha.  Thank you.
The first electric bus has arrived.  This bus was obtained with a grant from PGE and a rebate from the EPA.  The original grant was for two buses, but the EPA rebates are gone so they will need to a different source of funds.  These buses did not cost the school or the community any money.

Historical Society: M. Fruend
There will be an Open House and auction on August 23, 2025.  There is no information yet on if they are looking for donations but that will be shared out later. 
Interior work is on-going.

Friends of the Sandy River Delta: B. Adams
The Friends have purchased $3,900 in 3/4 minus gravel for work on the trails to get them ready for the summer. Thank you to the volunteer who mowed all the trails and didn't charge anything!  The members donate a lot of time and personal money to keeping the organization together and it is greatly appreciated.
Restrooms need pumped.  The Friends are being told all of the supplies are being run/approved through the GSA and that includes pumping.  Right now they are being told there may only be one pumping of the toilets. 
Intake from fees at the Delta run around $45,000 a year but this has not been translating to services at that location.
For example, dog bags to pick up after your dog at the park are almost out and are part of the supplies needed to be approved through the GSA.  Estimation is that will be $1,500 for a year.  That isn't a large amount for the Forest Service, but its a large portion of the SRD budget.  To make sure the bags will be available the Friends will be purchasing three months of supplies.  (The Friends operate on donations and volunteers, their annual donations run close to $4,000 and the majority of that goes to gravel purchase.)
Information that came in Thursday:  Please let everyone know 30 rolls of dog bags have shown up at the Delta, and the restroom will be pumped today. 





Multnomah County Transportation: E. Nilenders
Transit is looking to get out information their Dial a Ride program.  This program is free to those who use it and is open to all but will prioritize the elderly and disabled.  The ride needs to be arranged three days in advance and they can take you shopping, to medical appointments, etc.  If you are able to ride transit the program will take you to the nearest transit hub or to your destination, whichever is closer.  If you are unable to ride transit they will deliver you to the requested location.  (The airport was discussed, looks like you can get delivered to the closest transit hub that will take you to the airport.)
This program has been in effect since 2020 but the implementation was impacted by Covid.  Eve has presented at the Senior lunch at the Grange.
The agency is looking to add a couple shopping shuttles a month to the area and want to know what people would like to see on the schedule.  A central location will be arranged for the shuttle pick up if you want to use the shopping option.
(Follow up after the meeting showed these locations as places of interest:  Chase Bank, OnPoint ,Oregonians Credit Union, Umpqua Bank, BofA, Legacy Mount Hood, Fred Meyer, Walgreens, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Kohl’s, BiMart, Natural Grocers, Coastal ,Winco, Harbor Freight, Walmart ,Medical Center,EyeHealth NW.
Overall observations: 257th & Stark was the biggest location requested, Travel for medical appointments and banking is important. Interest in travel to Washington for recreational)
You can go to the website to give input:  https://multco.us/info/rural-shopping-shuttle 
For those who may be driving an elderly neighbor to appointments or to shop, there is a program called Ride Together and you can be reimbursed for your expenses.  Contact Eve for more information: eve.nilenders@multco.us

Mt Hood Community College: D. McKeel
Busy getting out the vote for the bond, (5/20/25).  Their students have been working hard to get the word out and she will be meeting with students today May 7.  (The Board meets twice a year with their students.) The college believes they have been on point with their message and thank you to everyone who has been supportive of their efforts.
Last Saturday the college celebrated 50 years of Head Start at their event center.  They celebrate it every year, but this year was a major milestone.
The college has received the 2025 Exemplary CEO/Board Relationship Award from the American Association of Community Colleges, highlighting its strong leadership and partnership with the board.
The student art exhibit began May 5, 2025 and will run until May 29, 2025.  The opening reception will be May 8 from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm.   
Ms. McKeel will be presenting scholarships at the Corbett graduation the end of this month.  The college has raised over $250,000 for scholarships to their students.






Grange: S. Grigsby
Thank you to the fire department for letting the Grange use the reader board, it really helps to get word out about their events. 
Currently there is a message regarding the Plant Share that will be happening on May 10, 2025 from 10-2.  Bring your starts or extras in and swap for plants you don't have or want more of.  Do not bring in invasive plants please.
It was a good Meet and Greet of the school board candidates and the contested Water District position. 
Senior Lunches are held at the Grange on the last Monday of the month.  This month it will fall on Memorial Day (5/26) and they will be offering Memorial Day food.  It will be open to Everyone this month, not just Seniors.
The State Grange Convention will be held at the school from June 21, 2025 to June 26, 2025. (Thank you Derek for all your help.) There will be approximately 175 Grange Members attending from all over the State.  Part of the events will include an Ag Tour (two small buses, five or six farms in the area), and some contest. 
Contests are open to members and non-members with registration beginning in June. All contests are open to members and non-members. Each contestant can have on one entry per category:  Baked Goods, Preserved Foods, Crafts, Textiles.  Fill out the form that can be found here
https://orgrange.org/res/info/awards/OSG_Awards_GWA.pdf
There will be a blood drive at the Grange on August 15, 2025, it may be a mix of drop in and appointment, more to come.

Menucha: C. McHill & D. Vasen
There will be a work party Saturday May 10 from 10-3.  Volunteers will be fed! Email Debbie at hello@menucha.org if you have any questions.
Flower walk will be May 17 from 1-3.  No pre-registration necessary, just check in at the greenhouse for maps and then wander where you will.
Sunday 6/29 there is an Open House from 11-3.  This will be an Annual event. Come down, see the grounds, bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the time. Ice Cream will be provided.
Menucha is working with PGE to get a grant for electric vehicles.  They are in the running.  Thank you Derek for your help.
There is a Survivor Path being installed with art for visitors to walk and enjoy.  The path will be open June 1 to thank donors and will be ready for everyone by Open House time.
Lots of programs are coming up.
Menucha is partnering with Write around Portland (https://www.writearound.org/)
Bluegrass in the Gorge will be May 29- June 1 with a  Bluegrass Concert on May 31st at the Grange.  https://menucha.org/programs/bluegrass  Cost is $20 for non-Grange members, $10 for Grange members and starts at 7 pm.





Multnomah County Emergency Management Services: L. Lledgerwood-Eberlein
The hot, dry weather is here and the forecast is for greater fire potential.  EMS is getting ready for fire response.
The Genasys system for fire evacuation is getting closer to being on board with hopes it will be ready to use this year. (https://genasys.com/wildfires/)
Lydia is available for community outreach.  That includes meeting with groups for preparedness presentation, training, print materials, or a tabling event.  You can request any of these trainings at:  https://multco.us/info/operations-division-staff
Evacuation route presentation is approximately 90 minutes, trainings take longer.  NEMCCA will work to coordinate a presentation.

American Red Cross:  R. Gutierrez
National Sound the Alarm campaign is in effect right now.  You can reach out to have the Red Cross come in and install free smoke alarms in your home.  They will also help draw up escape plans with you and offer you fire safety tips.  Volunteers are needed to help implement this program.  (https://www.redcross.org/sound-the-alarm.html)
The Red Cross is also available to help with Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation.  The Red Cross is available to come to your property, walk the exterior and give you ideas on how to provide defensible space, and then come in and do the interior with smoke alarms.
Sign up at www.redcross.org/local/Oregon
The Red Cross would also like to reach out to student communities and Spanish speaking communities.  If you know of a community that would benefit from this, please reach out to Rafael at: rafael.gutierrezbara@redcross.org
Volunteers are also needed for evacuations, deployments and assistance with sheltering facilities if you, or anyone you know, are interested in volunteering.

Firewise: R. Uleners
Corbett is being recognized as a Firewise Community for the third year now.
In July there will be a chipper day, exact date and time to follow.
If you are working on your property please put in your hours!  This helps us to maintain our Firewise designation and helps get grants (like the chipper) and might help with our fire rating through the fire department.
Hours can be logged at: https://www.corbettfirewise.org/
Activities that count toward hours are anything you do to reduce fire potential.   (Examples include: removing pine needles and leaf litter from roof and gutters, replaced vinyl gutters with metal gutters, ignition-resistant exterior improvements, installing screening on vents, flammable items removed from under decks and porches, inspect roof and replace missing shingles,  installation of hardscaping, replacing combustible mulches with stone/gravel options, tree and shrub removal, raking and removal of pine needles, leaves, ground litter/debris, tree trimming/limbing, moving firewood, lawn and native grass maintenance.)





MultCo Roads: T. Kunter
Vegetation control is being done now, you may have seen the mowers out in your area.  The two new machines for mowing/ditching have arrived and will make ditching easier as it can be done by one person. 
Spraying will be starting, this is the first time they have been out in four years and they are working with the vegetation specialist to get the work done with the least amount of chemicals. 
Owner maintained segments.  This is a program offered by the County and if you are registered a sign will be placed to show where the county will stop and start the road care.  Everyone is welcome to apply, but there are requirements and you must do the work yourself.  https://multco.us/info/owner-vegetation-maintenance-agreement
The County crews have been doing a lot of ditching in the Gordon Creek/Trout Creek area ahead of the PGE crews undergrounding the power lines.  This will establish the placement and depth of the ditches so PGE can be sure to get their lines deep enough there won't be concern about exposing the lines when doing maintenance ditching later. 
This work has gotten the vegetation back from the roads and you can now see the fog line on Trout Creek Road.
Surface work will be happening on Howard sometime between July 30 and August 30.  This will be where the road has been ground and other spots that have been noticed when doing inspections.
Patching on Larch is being scheduled due to the road being heavily traveled with the log trucks. Gordon Creek and Hurlburt will be worked on, some areas with breakdown but not all the way to potholes may receive an overlay.
Clara Smith and Reed will be having grind in place done this year similar to what happened on Howard Road.  The goal is to have the paving done this year but if that can't happen they will come back next year to finish. 
Pounder is on the schedule for next year.
The sinkholes on Mershon have been fixed.
There has been a lot of dumping in our area and the crew tries to get out as quickly as possible to clean them up as one dump site tends to bring in more dumping.  Thank you to Dave Mysinger for all the work he does with picking up litter.  (Dumping tends to be locals.)
There have been a lot of vehicles, boats and items such as basketball hoops in the County road right of way and this is impeding the work the County is trying to do.  Do not leave items in the road right of way, if you do your area may be skipped, or if the machinery hits something and is damaged you may get stuck with a large repair bill. 
Driveway culverts:  There has been several driveways with water running off them and coming on to the County road.  It is the responsibility of the property owner to make sure water does not come on to the road, and if you do not have a culvert, or if it is plugged, you either need to install/clean it, or contact the County regarding having them put one in when they are working in the area.  This may be the less expensive way to have the work done.
Signs have been installed at Lampert/Seidl where cars have been going through the guardrail and ending up in the pasture.  The guardrail has been removed.  Stop signs and dead end signs have been added.
Roads is hiring seasonal workers - go to Multco jobs, and maintenance workers.  There are nine openings for maintenance and four seasonal.  https://multco.us/programs/jobs 
County Roads would like to come out to community events, please let them know if there is anything planned.

Springdale Job Corp: R. Morris &  B. Schindeldecker
There is a new work based learning coordinator who is getting up to speed so there may be a short lag in responding to request. 
The Job Corp is planning on being in the 4th of July parade again this year.  They haven't heard from the 4th of July committee but they won't be allowing any staging on the property this year, if someone can let them know.  (Mentioned MCSO also hasn't heard from them.)
Looking for pharmacy tech partners if anyone knows of possible partnerships.  Really would like to have them get hands on experience before they leave the center. 
Asplundh has been housing their equipment on site and are doing some clean up in exchange for space. Its been a win/win.

Sasquatch Shuttle: K. Krumpschmidt
They have started running the double decker buses, look for them on the roads.
The Waterfall Loop is $79 for adults, $59 for children and includes a $20 credit per ticket to the Fork Food Carts or the Sasquatch Adventure store in Fairview. 
You can still purchase a $5 round trip day pass for the Multnomah Falls Park and Ride. 

Oregon State Parks and Rec: J. Starr
Jami has been named the new Parks Manager, filing the position left vacant by retiring David Spangler.  Her prior position is now vacant and they will be recruiting internally to fill.
There were eleven park ranger assistant vacancies, six have been filled with seasonal help, two are tentatively filled and three are still open.  One of those is a temp position.  Wages is around $20 an hour, but those hired qualify on day one for medical, dental, vacation time and you can vest in PERS if you are in the position for at least six months. 
There will be two student positions posting this week for work at Rooster Rock, one for booth attendee and one for working at the front entrance of the office building.  With the increase to $10 for a day pass it is expected there will be a higher demand for an annual $30 pass and they are staffing to try and handle that demand.  You can purchase on line but they may be delays in processing, so plan accordingly.
Vista House is closed, they are working to alleviate the water infiltration problem and closed the building on April 29 and will reopen on May 22.  The property is open to visitors, just not the building.
The budget biennium is coming up and Parks is looking at ADA improvements on the Ainsworth bathroom.
First Saturday of June is State Parks Day.  Camping and day use will be free that day. Typically this is done in partnership with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife with free fishing day.  Check with ODF&W regarding licensing requirements.
Once the Vista House reopens hours will be 9-5, four days a week.  There has been discussion around opening it six days a week depending on volunteers, but that will also depend on if the road is open.

ODOT: T. Lingley and K. Kalsch
Summer congestion has started, to help with mitigation the timed permits are being used at the I-84 parking lot at exit 31. Sasquatch shuttle has the contract for permit checking.  There is a two dollar processing fee if you reserve on line, there are tickets available for free for those who want to pick them up at Gateway to the Gorge Mall or at the Cascade Locks Museum. 
There is not currently enough money to pay for a crosswalk flagger at Multnomah Falls.  The County is still working on their budget so it is unknown if they will have money to contribute, ODOT will know more in June.
West viaduct work is on schedule to be done and is set to open next week.  This means the turn around areas will now be open for parking. 
Larch Mt land slide is being monitored daily while the contract is put in place.  It is estimated to take two months to complete repairs once the project is ready to go, so the road will most likely be closed July and August of 2025.  There is an expectation that the same issues being seen at Wakheena will be seen at Larch/Old Scenic Highway once work starts.  Be aware there will be NO traffic going through, no vehicles, bikes, pedestrians, emergency responders.  There will be a forty foot hole and no one is getting by.
ODOT is aware that with the Wakheena closure people are parking in the travel lanes.  This issue has been raised with Law Enforcement.
The Eastbound bridge work at McCord Creek will have minimal impact this year but will have some full closures of I-84 during the 2025-2026 year. 
Bridal Veil bridge rehab work is complete.
Sweepers just came through on their way to Latourell.  Spraying and mowing will be coming back this way with the expectation to be in Corbett just before the 4th of July. 
The budget is tight, construction you see now was already funded and started and is not from the maintenance monies so they are not on hold.  Staff is back up to full strength but the dollars for supplies are not available. 
Litter patrol on the Old Highway.  You can fill out the form for ODOT and get the signs, vests, bags and pick up sticks. 

MCSO: Deputy Kaiser
There have been a lot of dumped vehicles lately.  Some have been removed, others have had owners contacted to haul out.  One on upper Larch was shoved further down the embankment by some individuals which is complicating the removal.  If the vehicles are not in the road they may sit for a while before being removed, but if they are in the will be removed immediately.  Please email Deputy Kaiser if you see any of these vehicles and if possible send a picture of the plates so he can run for stolen.  joe.kaiser@mcso.us
Extra patrols are being done at Vista House when staffing allows.  These will be on going over the summer and will be random.
For Everyone's Information:  Spinning out tires is considered speed racing and if you do this and are caught your vehicle may be towed.
The manager of the logging operation on Larch has been contacted regarding speed of trucks and patrols are monitoring throughout the hours of operation. 
Budget so far is good.  MCSO is opening up for some lateral transfers, there are some members in the academy and also have some recruits coming up that are looking good.
Deputy Kaiser is still on patrol rather than CRO and is working with Community Patrol.  The group is a lifeline to the community and he really appreciates all they do.

CWD: L. Ronell
District Manager job position is open until May 30, 2025.  Information is available on the district website: https://www.corbettwater.com/job-opportunities/
Ana Linden headed up a fundraising for the Springdale Job Corp students to attend the CPAC play.  The Community donated around $600 and monies not spent will be given to the Job Corp for future use.
Larch Mt Reservoir, workers are digging out the overflow line, the District is waiting for a response from FEMA regarding funds.
There was a mainline leak last week on Knieriem when a homeowner failed to call Locate prior to digging.  Workers had the line fixed in 2.5 hours.  The District will be using a new emergency notification system, Everbridge.  This will show calls coming from CWD and will use all methods for contact: phone, email, text. (Side note: make sure you've updated all of your contact information with the  District if you aren't getting notified.) There is at least one more training session scheduled before implementation but it should be done this month.
For Community members interested in learning more about the District there are tours offered, lead by the utility workers.  Please reach out to the office to schedule a tour. 
Two story map pdfs will be going up on the website that provides a nice overview of the district.

Safety Meeting Notes
April 2, 2025


County Commissioner D4:  V. Jones-Dixon
Chair is working on the County Budget, will be sharing at the end of the month. 
Following up on the Bull Run water filtration project.
Looking at how to get funds for infrastructure and how to prioritize to get funding from the Feds to address the roads, looking at the Corbett area.

Discussions:
School speed signs at the Middle School on Woodard.  What assistance can the Commissioner give to get the speed reduced?:

ODOT and MultCo Roads were part of the discussion.  ODOT is responsible for the school speed signs (school zone signs are in place at each end of the property, the one to the West will be pushed back to 400 feet from 100 feet to expand the zone), but there are steps necessary first that have to be done by both the school and the County.

School speed zones are meant to encourage walking and biking to the school, and Woodard road is not set up for these events. 

Normally a pedestrian protection plan would be submitted prior to the development of a school, but the Corbett School District stated they would not be having any walking, biking, or drop off traffic at the Middle School.  Students would be transported by bus to the location, so the district did not submit a plan, and the road does not qualify for a speed reduction for the school based on it not being set up with sidewalks and a place to safety travel by foot or bike.

There are some background forms that need to be filled out by the school to get a review started.  The talk was walking the students between the Middle School and the Springdale CAPS campus, which would involve additional studies and work by ODOT regarding having a safety corridor for walking between the campuses. 

This was mentioned as an eight foot wide expansion on the North side of the road (keeping the improvements to one side) and then who would be responsible for cost.  Typically the work would have needed to be done with construction upgrades to the property, and would be the cost to the District.  Maintenance would be done by the County.  But now there isn't money in MultCo Roads budget, and its not in ODOT's budget, so finding the money would need to come from the State or Feds and the County Commissioner might be able to help with funds.

Historic Columbia River Highway work:  The Larch slide area will be most likely need to be shut down for two months prior to the Fall. 
The timed entry permit fee at Multnomah Falls parking lot will be staffed as there is funding, but the agencies that are trying to keep the flagger at the crosswalk are falling short of funding.  If the crosswalk isn't funded there tends to be chaos with traffic, as people don't keep moving, and this impacts the flow of personal vehicles, buses, shuttles and first responders.  It would be helpful if the Commissioner would assist with funding to reduce the congestion and keep traffic flowing.

Stark Street Bridge:  The County is working on putting up length restrictions for the bridge and that will be included on the signs with weight limits.  This has gone to engineering and we should expect to see the signs in the next couple months.  This doesn't mean oversize truck drivers won't still try to take the bridge, but once it is posted law enforcement can issue tickets for violations.

Looking in to cameras for the bridge to help with ticketing of violators.  Also may be able to help with ticketing of those bringing out trucks and trailers of garbage to dump in the area.  There has been an increase in this behavior.

Corbett Water District: Thank you to the Commissioner for sponsoring Corbett Water District with FEMA.


Corbett Water District: A. Linden

Steve Young will be attending the Safety Meetings in the future as this may be Ana's final meeting.  She has turned in her 30 day notice.  Steve is a lead worker and has received training for PRV maintenance and has started working on them, with a goal of working on one a month. 

CWD is gearing up for Spring maintenance.  Erika Bronson presented to the Water District and gave them an Operations and Maintenance Manual that they will be adding to their existing manual.  Erika did this as part of her final project to complete her bachelors degree, she is a water operations manager at Wood Village and is running for a seat on the Water Board.  She is also a local in the community.

The district has been working on a GIS hydraulic model that will show how the system will respond to a heavy fire or a leak somewhere in the system.  This will help with future hydrant placing and assist with showing where to prioritize work.

There has been an application submitted for a grant for hazard mitigation funding.  This funding would be for replacing the Larch Mountain tank, moving it away from the slide area and breaking it down to two tanks, increasing the holding capacity from 300,000 gallons to 500,000 gallons.  The tanks would stay on the Schmidt property, but would be away from the house and they would no longer be sharing an access road.  Should the district get the grant the district would need to come up with $250,000 for their portion, it is a three million dollar grant.  Thank you to Angie Kimpo who did a lot of work on this application.  It will be three to twelve months before they know if the grant will come to the district.

Menucha:  C. McHill
Easter Sunrise Service will be April 20, 2025 at 6:30.  All are invited to attend.
Volunteer Day is May 10, 10-4, and all are welcome to come help.  There are jobs available for those of all abilities, please contact Debbie Vasen at hello@menucha.org

FireWise:  T. Kurkinen
There will be a FireWise meeting at Menucha on April 24, 2025. 
FireWise website: https://www.corbettfirewise.org/aboutfirewise-1

Emergency Management Services: L. Ledgerwood-Eberlein 
EMS has been busy with exercises and training.
The agency is continuing to look at Genasys for wildfire evacuation and Multnomah County is very enthusiastic regarding the system but are still working their way through the process to get it implemented .
(https://genasys.com/wildfires/ )
One exercise the agency is doing is terrorism training which will be in the middle of April.  This will be identifying who will be able to step up and how they can support the community. 
Another training was the water system exercise.  Corbett Water District participated in this training which was regarding water filtration.  There will be a larger community water filtration training in the future for those who would like to attend.
A disaster response training at the Airport will be in May.
They have a new Red Cross Community Coordinator.
If anyone is interested in having training done for their organization please reach out the EMS and they will be happy to meet with you.


BOEC: S. Koss
First quarter statistics are out and BOEC answered 137,826 for 911 in January, February and March.  They are down to only four vacancies and that is improving their answer times for 911, with 60% of the calls being answered within 10 seconds. 
BOEC currently has 85 senior dispatchers, 41 members in training who should be fully trained in one to two years, and ten people attending the training academy that started in February.  There are also 15 people who have gone through background checks and are heading to psych testing for the next academy, starting in June.  The intent is to over hire to keep ahead of normal staffing changes.

BOEC hosted the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials conference the first weekend in March focused on wellness and health for dispatchers.  One of the lead speakers was Elisabeth Smart, who survived an abduction.
AI routing for non-emergency calls is being put out for bid, with the agency looking for three competitive bids.  The first meeting with a supplier of this technology will be next Tuesday.  This AI product will enable callers to be walked through the process without needing to repeat their information and provide them with the assistance they need.  It is hoped to have this process in place by July.
GovWorks is another AI process that will be a keyway for police dispatch, and will also work with Fire and Medical.  This product will be for quality assurance, identify training calls, and will make it easier to find calls as they can use keywords to narrow down the specific call where information is being requested.  This has just been procured, its too soon to say when it will go in to effect.
Discussion:
Is BOEC coordinating with ODOT and MultCo roads with road closures?  Yes, but the information has to be input by hand, so if you don't see the update please contact them to let them know.
(March Directors Report Link: https://www.portland.gov/911/documents/directors-report-march-2025/download)

Grange: S. Grigsby & C. Mitas
The Grange will be removing all of the trees along Grange Hall Road for hazard mitigation sometime in the next couple of months.  They are looking for a matching grant through the State to help with the cost as it can be expensive.  County Roads said to please contact them prior to cutting and they will shut down the road for safety.
There will be a Meet the Candidates for the eight candidates running for the school board on April 27, 2025 from 2-4.  This is a chance to walk to different areas set up in the Grange to talk with the candidates, not a debate forum.  (Discussion: asking the two candidates running for the Water Board to attend too).
Last Monday of the month there is a Senior lunch at the Grange.  This is from 11:30 to 1:30 and they serve homemade soup and bread, along with coffee and cookies.  Please share out to your Senior friends. Helping Hands will be doing a free Easter Egg hunt on April 19, 2025 starting at 1 p.m. sharp!

Forest Service: L. Cary
The 100th anniversary of Multnomah Falls is this year and there will be small events to celebrate over the year rather than one large one. 
Dog Mountain permits will be needed starting April 26th and required through June 15, 2025 (weekends only except for Memorial Day Monday).  One fee covers everyone in the vehicle.  Half of the permits will be available now on line at rec.gov, half will be released three days before each weekend.  This does not guarantee a parking spot.
There is a free shuttle from Stevenson

"Columbia Area Transit (CAT) provides shuttle service from the Skamania County Fairgrounds gravel parking lot at 518 SW Rock Creek Drive in Stevenson, WA to the Dog Mountain Trailhead on weekends during the busy season. If you plan to access the trailhead via the shuttle service, they will provide you with a free daily permit for the Dog Mountain Trail System (and you do not need to purchase one through this site). Well-behaved, leashed dogs are allowed on the shuttle. Additional information about shuttle operations can be found at https://www.ridecatbus.org/dog-mountain-shuttle/ "
https://www.recreation.gov/timed-entry/10091444

Timed permit usage at Multnomah Falls I-84 parking lot will look similar to prior years.
Permanent seasonal employees are returning, its good to have them on board.
Campgrounds are opening May 1, 2025, they will be open for reservations starting April 2025.

Coverage at 1,000 acres is difficult with the majority of staff working out of Hood River. Maintenance of the bathrooms will be a couple times a week, but not daily.  They are aware the toilets need pumped more often, and are working with Trail Keepers of Oregon to set up ambassadors with tents to maintain a presence in the area.

Corbett School District: D. Fialkiewicz
First budget meeting will be April 9, 2025.  The proposed budget is on the school website. This year there is a zero ending fund balance, but they are looking to have $100,000 next year and building back up to a five to seven percent balance by 2028-2029. There is a plan in place.

The district added students this year, but will slowly decrease the number back down over the next ten years by lowering the number around 10-15 students per year.  This is done with the desire to meet the request of the community. 

Shout out to the Job Corp who has been doing spectacular work with the district.  They have students interning in the district and its very exciting to have the coordination between the agencies.

CPAC will be doing Godspell. April 4, 5, 11, 12 at 7 p.m.  April 5, 12 at 1 p.m.  April 6 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors. Reserve tickets at: cpac14info@gmail.com

There will be a whole Corbett schools event on May 3, 2025 at CAPS.  There will be booths available for people to sell their product, food carts and a May pole.  Contact Derek if you'd like a both at: dfialkiewicz@corbett.k12.or.us

The Robotics Team (Cardinals Dynamics 6696) is competing at the Pacific NW District Championships this weekend. They are ranked at 22 in the region and if they qualify this weekend they could be heading to the worlds competition in Houston, TX.  We'll be seeing some hard fundraising if they make it!

Springdale Job Corp: B. Schindeldecker
The Job Corp has been affected by the Federal Spending issues and there is a hiring freeze in affect, along with a stop on purchases.  In addition, student enrollment is heavily impacted as background checks are frozen and they can't get new students processed in. 
On March 25, 2025 there was an active shooter drill with MCSO Deputy Kaiser.  The student did very well and they had the lowest casualty number with only three being documented.  They are learning with each drill and are continuing to improve each time.
The center has a new contract with the Whole Foundation and are placing students for their work experience through them.  They are still in need of work places for pharmacy students to get their experience. 

All recreational events have been cancelled with the funding freeze, unless the event is free.  If you know of any events students 16-24 would enjoy in the area, please let Brittney know and she will make arrangements to get students there (with staff chaperones).  They have 77 students at this time. 
Discussion: There is a play being put on by Corbett Students, if tickets were provided for students and chaperones would that be something the center would be interested in?  Yes.

Sasquatch Shuttle: K. Krumpschmidt
Sasquatch Shuttle has opened a retail location at the Columbia Outlet Mall and the buses and tours will be leaving from that location.  Tours will be going down the Old Scenic Highway (contingencies in place if the highway shuts down), and the Express buses will be three, double-decker buses.  The changes to the Shuttle will allow them to move 3,100 people per day, with the goal of keeping individual cars off the road to reduce congestion.  The shuttle will be opening earlier in the year than before, starting with a soft opening this weekend and expanding to full weeks next week, and will continue into November.  The cost is $5 per person per day to ride and the trips from the Outlet will match up with Tri-Met times so you can come in from out of the area without having to drive.  There are 1,100 parking spots at the Mall and there is an overflow area available if that is required. 
They will be continuing to charge for parking at Multnomah Falls as this help fund the buses.  The parking lot will be staffed, seven to eight personnel at a time, and they are pleased to say there were no break ins last year within the lot. 
Sasquatch does not charge for tour providers, as they support tours that help reduce the congestion in the area.  Studies have shown we don't have a people problem at the Falls, its a parking problem. 
The flagger for the Falls crosswalk is a big issue, as its important to keep the traffic moving, not only for personal vehicles, but first responders. 
Buses leave every 45 minutes and Sasquatch has partnered with some of the local restaurants for a discount on food purchases.  Check the website for more information.
Discussion: Can people who take Uber out purchase tickets for the bus to get back in to town?  Yes.  They can purchase through Clover. 

ODOT: K. Kalsch
The Larch Mountain closure area is inspected daily, and while its open right now, that could change at any time.  Currently there are two lanes open, but if there is a significant change noted it will be shut down.  The goal is to keep it open until the contractor is ready to come on site, and they are looking at three different repair options at this time.  The last major repair was done in 2007 and if you look at the pictures you can see the gabion wall has tipped out and is giving way, with the guard rail below the road.  Plans and designs are being considered with the request to have plans ready to go out for bid by mid-May.  This work will be a repair, not a fix, as FLAP money is currently being directed to finishing the trail from Troutdale to Hood River. 
Discussion: fixing would involve drilling down to solid material, the expanse is too wide for a viaduct, there have been issues with that area since it was built, and it would be a major closure when the fix is done.  Timing shows it is faster for the fire department to go down the freeway and back up from Latourell rather than going down the curves. Bridal Veil restoration is coming along.  Will be done by mid May.
West viaduct is continuing with their work. The plan was to pour the deck today but the weather isn't cooperating.  Still looking to be done with the West viaduct by May 20, 2025.

East viaduct will have work going on from 5-9 a.m. during the summer, it will be shut down during the fall/winter like the West side is now.
Mitchell Point Tunnel Trail had a soft opening.  You can now visit but keep in mind there are only 19 parking spaces and you will be towed if you park on the on ramp.
Budget wise no one knows what will happen at the end of this budget cycle.  Regardless to what you may have seen in the paper, ODOT did not lose a million dollars.  Five years ago there was money set aside for some projects and when it turned out they would be short on funding to finish the projects they were halted.  ODOT made the proper notifications.  We'll be waiting to hear on the budget on July 1, 2025, but until then they will be doing spring maintenance. 

MCSO: Deputy Kaiser
Still no CRO in the area but the department is short of staff, once staffing levels change that may change.  Right now he will be out here as much as possible. 
Larch Mountain closure: Even when the road is closed a Stop Sign is a Stop Sign, do not blow through it.  Some of you have found out its a heavy ticket, more will if you don't stop.  Also, the place to stop is at the white line equal with the stop sign, not past it.  If you need to creep out to see down the road, then come to a complete stop and then move out until you can safely see down the road.
Discussion:  Speeders in town.  As much as people want to believe its people from out of town, the majority of those speeding in our area are residents.  Slow down, talk to your family members.

Multnomah County Roads: T. Kunter
After listening to the discussion about the stop sign running at Larch he will look at getting STOP put at the line next to the sign. There will be a one lane closure on the Stark Street Bridge on Friday, staring at 6 a.m. and going until 10 a.m. This work is weather dependent.  The stripes are engineered to help buses and box trucks with turning radius.  There was a trailer semi turning right on to the bridge and he stopped and talked with him, was told the driver has been coming this way for a long time and never had a problem.  He gave him directions to where he needed to go based on the truckers g.p.s. and the gentleman said he would do that in the future.  He also warned him he would be waiting on the other side, and if he hit the bridge there would be a different conversation....   Everything went fine.

Cameras are under consideration for the bridge, which would help with charging on bridge hits, and also help track down dumping, which is increasing.  The vector team is being notified of the dumps, he is going through the garbage and finding names and addresses for those who are leaving the messes, and he'd like to thank Dave Mysinger who walks Corbett Hill regularly with his wife to pick up the trash. 

New mowers will be arriving this month.  These are purpose built mowers, not the John Deere tractor with attachment.  These mowers have ditching attachments and will have a burrowing/snow blower motion that will put the debris next to the ditch, rather than having to haul the material out.  With the DEQ regulations it can be expensive tracking and hauling the material.  This mechanism can also reduce the job from six people to one, which is a benefit as he is running 25% low on staff. The money is there, but not the people.  He is looking for four seasonal workers and eight permanent staff. 

Roads will be doing a lot of ditching in the Gordon Creek/Trout Creek area as they need to meet PGE's requirements for their undergrounding of power.  PGE will be placing their lines under the ditch so they need to establish the depth prior to line placement or they will end up with shallow ditches.  PGE will also be out on Brower, but not until later.

Howard Road had potholes filled last week and in the areas that grind in place were done last Fall.  They will be meeting next Wednesday to pave the grind in place areas, approximately 1,700 feet total.

As mentioned earlier the school zone signs at the Middle School are being moved back to the 400 feet on the West side. 

Driveway run off has been an issue in the area, both water and gravel coming down and getting in the road.  After talking with the County attorneys for clarity,  residents who have this situation will be notified they need to control their run off.  This will most likely involve installing a culvert.  If the roads department is in the area they can do the work and then charge the cost back to the owner, or the owner may get a permit and do the work themselves. (Or hire their own contractor).
Striping will be started soon. 

Discussion: Can you sweep first?  Speeds for the sweeper, speeds for the painting, can't slow down the striper as it needs a consistent speed for putting down paint.   Because of the lack of spraying and mowing for four years, there is a good chance miscellaneous items may be painted.  (Vegetation, squirrels).  For those of us who have a bit of overgrowth along the fog line, it would be good to take your broom out and sweep the debris out of the way. 

NEMCCA would like to have a Community Pick Up Litter Day where residents sign up their address and then pick up the trash that has been left along their property line.  NEMCCA would pick up the bags and take them to the County shop for disposal. 

NEMCCA:  Thank you MCSO and MultCo roads for getting the car out along Larch.  Also to MultCo for getting most of the garbage out that was thrown over the hill at the gravel pull out.  Happy to hear they are tracking down owner. 
 

[April 26, 2025 from 10 am to 2 pm]

The Columbian Garden Club is hosting its Plant Sale on Saturday, April 26, 2025 from 10 am to 2 pm at the Corbett Fire Hall, 36930 E. Historic Columbia River Highway, Corbett.  Please note new open hours. Treasures from members' gardens include: perennials, shrubs, natives, vegetables and specialty items.  Proceeds from the Sale benefit Club civic landscape projects, educational programs and a horticulture scholarship. Free parking behind the Fire Station and limited on-street parking.  See also attached flyer.  Thanks for your support!

Community invited to Stark Street Bridge reopening celebration

Multnomah County, Ore. (March 5, 2025) — On Monday, March 10, Multnomah County invites the community to celebrate the reopening of the Stark Street Bridge.

Come learn about the crucial emergency repair work of the north bridge approach that collapsed in September 2024. The bridge is expected to reopen in the afternoon on Thursday, March 6.

"The Stark Street Bridge serves as a critical connection for East County residents and access for those visiting our scenic areas," Multnomah County District 4 Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon said. "Thank you to the East County community for enduring the closure while these emergency repairs were made and a tip of the hat to our Multnomah County crews and project staff for a job well done!"

WHEN: Monday, March 10

TIME: 12:45 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.

WHERE: The event will start on the southeast side of the bridge and continue to the northwest side. S.E. Stark will be closed at S.E. Kerslake Road. Please drive to that closure and tell staff you're arriving for the event. You'll be ushered through the closure. Drive all the way until you see the bridge and park near the Riverview Restaurant. Please pull as far off the road as possible. A parking map is attached.


SPEAKERS:

Multnomah County Project Manager Sara Jeffrey

Multnomah County Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon

East County community member Victoria Purvine

RSVP:  Community members and news outlets please RSVP to: pressoffice@multco.us

Note* The event will close the bridge for a few short hours.


Background: 

On Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 the Stark Street Bridge in the Columbia River Gorge closed due to a supporting stone wall that partially collapsed. It remained closed until March 6, 2025. The Historic Columbia River Highway entrance to the Stark Street Bridge where the wall collapsed was structurally compromised, was unsafe to put vehicles on and needed to be replaced. The County started work the minute the bridge wall collapse was discovered, working non-stop with engineers, biologists, historical resource experts and a contractor to evaluate the situation and figure out the best way to repair the bridge.

The partial collapse was caused by a series of crashes by vehicles and large trucks over the last decade that weakened the supporting wall. The County also discovered 6 to 8-inch holes in the bridge deck, which were easier to detect with traffic off the bridge. The County also found that the opposite side retaining wall was in danger of collapse.

Multnomah County secured an under-deck unit to fix the holes in the deck and worked with a contractor to replace and rebuild the north bridge approach.

What we are doing longer term

The County was already working on the preliminary steps to replace or significantly rehabilitate the bridge because of its condition and lack of capacity. In the future, the County will need to make more permanent repairs either as part of a bridge replacement or through a project to build a new permanent approach.

Funding shortage

The Association of Oregon Counties released The 2024 County Roads Needs Study on September 26, 2024 and presented the report to the Joint Legislative Committee on Transportation. Overall, Oregon counties face a shortfall of $834 million annually primarily for operations and maintenance. Multnomah County manages 269 miles of roads, 21 bridges, 1700 culverts and six large bridges over the Willamette River. 47% of the County's road surface area is in need of replacement to remain functional long term. The County will continue to share concerns, priorities and ideas for solutions to help state legislators build a transportation funding package in 2025 that will support the needs of local communities. 

Multnomah County maintains the Stark Street Bridge on the Sandy River. For information, visit: https://www.multco.us/bridges.

--
Sarah Hurwitz
Multnomah County Communications Office
Transportation Public Information Officer
cell: 971-500-3311

[Resources for residents :]

Multnomah County, Ore. (Dec. 6, 2024) — TRAFFIC ALERT: Next week, construction begins on the north Stark Street Bridge approach. Expect traffic delays on the Historic Columbia River Highway.

A contractor hired by Multnomah County will be working to repair and replace the north approach for the Stark Street Bridge. Due to tight space near the repair site, contracting equipment will take up some space in the roadway. During construction, there will be a 24-hour single lane closure on the Historic Columbia River Highway near the bridge. Two temporary traffic signals will be set up within a couple hundred feet on either side of the bridge to control the flow of traffic. The single lane reduction will remain in place for the duration of construction. Speed in the work zone will be reduced to 45 miles per hour.

Pending weather, the bridge is expected to partially reopen to one lane of traffic by the end of February.
To learn more about the repair process from Transportation Road Maintenance, watch this video:
https://youtu.be/Tpljvj9vzZ8?

Resources for residents :
Every week throughout the duration of these emergency repairs, Multnomah County will post an update on repair progress on its project page.  
For questions related to the repairs, contact:
Ken Bossen, Multnomah County Transportation Road Maintenance Supervisor
ken.bossen@multco.us.  

Detours
Vehicles will be rerouted to use the Sandy River Bridge in Troutdale.
Initial closure
On Tuesday, Sept. 17, the Stark Street Bridge in the Columbia River Gorge closed due to a supporting stone wall that partially collapsed. Since then, the bridge has been closed. The County started work the minute the bridge wall collapse was discovered and has been working non-stop with engineers, biologists, historical resource experts and a contractor to evaluate the situation and figure out the best way to repair the bridge. The partial collapse was caused by a series of crashes by vehicles and large trucks over the last decade that weakened the supporting wall. The damage is structural and significant, requiring the complete reconstruction of the bridge approach on the Historic Columbia River Highway side of the bridge.

Work leading up to construction
In the last two months since the retaining wall failure in September, the project team has been working with a design consultant, utility companies and a contractor to design the repairs. While the community may have not seen crews out at the site during that time, the project team has been hard at work every day working on those designs. There's a lot of work that has to happen behind the scenes before construction. This is a very complex location to build a new embankment on that will support traffic and meet all regulatory requirements. The repairs won't restrict or change the vehicle capacity on the bridge.  

Communication, power, water and gas lines are now either cut out or moved out of the way of the construction work zone so that the contractor can maneuver and complete the repair work safely.

Emergency repair work is on the Historic Columbia River Highway as well, which is owned and maintained by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). In order to move forward with the repair, the County is required to get a permit from ODOT. This also requires federal and historic review and approval due to the location, further complicating the process. The County needed final ODOT approval before construction could begin.
What we are doing longer term

The County was already working on the preliminary steps to replace or significantly rehabilitate the bridge because of its condition and lack of capacity. In the future, the County will need to make more permanent repairs either as part of a bridge replacement or through a project to build a new permanent approach.
Multnomah County maintains the Stark Street Bridge on the Sandy River. For information, visit: https://www.multco.us/bridges.

Dec 4, 2024

Safety Meeting Notes

 

Historical Society: M. Freund

The stumps have been ground where the long house is going.  Insulation, framing, sheet rock, electrical inspections are done.  Interior is being painted, now they are looking at getting the generator pad poured and the flooring started.

 

BOEC: M. Payne

Have been with the Bureau for 18 years, this is the first NEMCCA meeting.  There are currently 82 certified dispatchers with the Bureau and 38 in training.  At this time last year they had 95 certified dispatchers, this year they are increased to 108.

 

Friends of the Sandy River Delta: B. Adams

There have been a lot of cars in the Delta in strange places, locations they should not be found in.  The gate has been hit by vehicles both from the inside of the fence, and the outside. Also had calls from people living in the Delta who were upset because they were stuck behind the gate and couldn't get out.

The Forest Service was able to get the gate straightened and locked in a way that people can't just open it and get behind the gate.
(Discussion: The people living in the Delta had all been offered a free place to live for a year.  A lot of them did not take the offer.  Bollards that had been removable have been changed to cemented, permanent ones as the old ones were regularly being cut and removed. The agencies have been working to change the traffic flow to access from behind the outlet mall.)

Multnomah Falls is the most visited location, Sandy River Delta is the second.

 

Corbett Water District : A Linden

Gearing up for Winter, doing prep, testing generators, making sure chains are ready, etc.

The District is looking at a Hazard Mitigation Grant to move the tank located on Larch Mountain. This location had damage done last year during the bad weather when the valve froze open and needs remediation work.  The District would like to look at repairing the area, moving the tank, or digging the tank down and locating it around 20 feet in the ground.  (Discussion:  What about getting it through the NSA.  Is it reasonable to think the project could go through the County and NSA and get completed in three years.  What has been the experience for those who have been doing projects. Can we get the County Commissioner to help get some changes in the process, not the Federal side of the issue, but the County interpretation of the process.  There is going to be a staff change with Adam Barber retiring, who to talk with at Land Use (new Director is Megan Gibb) and suggested contacting Margi Bradway with the Chair's Office.  Also coming to the Planning Commission meetings and voicing specific concerns.

District is looking at the budget, the budget process, what is being looked at, and what isn't.  Making sure everything is being covered.

 

Corbett School District: D. Fialkiewicz

Fox 12 December teacher of the month is Mrs. Karki.  Congratulations.

Shout out to Community Patrol, great to see Ron back and have him and Rick out there helping with the traffic.  They've been wedging themselves against things to keep from being blown away these past couple days.

The District is starting the budget process, and there are three open seats on the budget committee if anyone would like to be part of the process.  Please contact the District Office if you're interested.  There will be an information video put out from the Superintendent regarding what will be expected from the budget committee, the process will start in January.

There is a PTA meeting tonight at the Corbett Community Church to talk about the current budget situation, what can be done.

On December 5th there will be a High School concert starting at 6 pm

Saturday December 7th there will be several events going on:  Donuts with Santa being put on by CHAMPS, Grange Craft Fair (both at the school) and the Tree Lighting and Bonfire from 5-8 at the Fire Station.

A band concert will be held December 11 at 6 pm.

Winter break will start on December 20 and continue until January 6th.

 

Forest Service: L. Carey

The Horsetail Creek trail has been reopened after being closed since the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire.

There has been a large slide on the Larch Mountain Trail.  TKO is working on repairing the damage.  With the wet Winter weather we need to expect some trail damage and the Forest Service has reduced trail crews right now.  Repair time may be delayed, or take longer to get accomplished.

Campgrounds are closed until May 1st, and the flush toilet use areas have been winterized.

The Multnomah Falls Lodge and Visitor Center designs are 90% complete.  They are not currently ready for public viewing.  (Discussion: The Forest Service is having budgeting issues and they are running on skeleton crews, where is the money for renovations coming from for the work?  This money is from the Great American Outdoors Act and has been in the process for the past several years.)

 

Firewise: R. Uleners

The Corbett Community has been certified as a Firewise Community again this year.

 

Grange: C. Mitas

Carlyn publishes the CorbettArea Newsletter online, if you want to get her any information to be included please send it to her before the 15th of each month.

corbettareanewsline@gmail.com

The Craft Fair will be at the Corbett School on December 7th and 8th from 10-3 in the Multi Purpose building.

The State Grange convention in June is 99.9% set to be held at the Corbett Schools in 2025.  Thank you to Derek for working to help make this happen.

A Swing Dance is being planned for February.

The last Monday of the month there is a soup and sandwich Senior lunch being offered at the Grange. Due to the holidays there will not be one in December.

 

Springdale Job Corp: R. Morris

The roof project is half way complete!  The end date has been pushed out to January right now with the high winds and cold affecting the work days.

Winter Break will be December 19- January 1. There will be four or five students remaining on campus due to family circumstances.

(Discussion:  What can we as a Community do to help make the holidays better for the students who will have to remain behind.  Can they be invited to people's homes for dinner?  Can they have gifts donated to them? What can we do?  There are a lot of regulations and requirements around this issue, it will be looked into and they will get back to us.  Students can attend public events that staff can take them to, so if anyone is doing a public event from 12/19 to 1/6 please let staff know and they will see what can be arranged.  They are planning on bringing interested students to the Tree Lighting on December 7th).

A couple trees fell down on the back of the property, they are working on cleaning that up.  Back flow testing was done, winterizing is in progress to avoid broken water and fire lines.  They have contacted places that were suggested at last month's meeting for places to park the bus during freezing weather.  The School District and Springdale Pub have offered their parking lots, they will contact a couple other property owners as well.

 

MCSO: J Volker

Last week was the toy drive,(thank you Walmart, Kohls and Fred Meyer) they received 1,278 toys and 2,000 stocking stuffers.  The Troutdale office leads in the paper wrapping donations.  Distribution of the gifts will be on December 14th from nine to noon at the Wood Village Baptist Church.  Doors open at 8 in the morning.

Las Posados will be held December 20th at Reyolds High School from 6-8:30.  The event is free, there will be lots of good food!

https://www.woodvillageor.gov/calendar-events/las-posadas-24/

The department is hiring to fill positions, there are also some lateral transfers happening.  Captain Bevens is retiring in seven days, it is not know who will be filling his spot.

Former CRO Kaiser is currently working Friday through Mondays until January 15, 2025, then will be returning to regular patrol duty Monday-Thursday. (Discussion: It would be nice to see Deputy Kaiser return to being the CRO.  Without him we are seeing a drop in Community Patrol training, work, ability to recruit and CP needs to be able to do this actions.  In addition, the website is currently down as the process to fund the website has changed as Deputy Kaiser is not the CRO.  Not everyone is aware there is no CRO, but those who are aware are surprised when they see him.  The CP repeater has been renewed as that is very important to keep current.  The HOPE team is also shut down and doing patrol right now (vacancies for various reasons created a lack of staffing) but may be returning in the new year.
More will be known once the new Captain is announced.

 

MHCC: D. McKeel

(Discussion: not MHCC, but relating to the CRO position.  This position comes on the block frequently, because people don't understand that Corbett and Sauvie Island are unincorporated and don't have any income to pay for a CRO.  At one point the CRO positions were considered part of the essential budget, but they became more of a political item, where they had to be fought for every budget cycle to keep.  It is surprising that the Chair and Sheriff are not funding this position as a permanent one, since they have spoken to our Community saying they realize we need that position filled.  In addition, we aren't receiving the funding and attention that we should being on the edge of the County.  There is an Office of Community Involvement that use to make organize to have budget committees for different departments, these need filled.  We also should consider being on the Charter Review Committee when it comes up again and get a change to having a County Manager, not have the Chair in charge of the budget.  Make all Board members equal.)

MHCC - its the end of Fall term, break for the college is also coming up.  On 12/14 there will be a fundraiser for transitional youth, Patrick Lamb will be playing for the event.

The State Community College Conference was held in November, there are three categories that receive awards: Legislator Advocate, Board Member and President.  Dr. Skari with MHCC received the award this year, we're very proud of her achievement.

There is on-going board discussion regarding going out for a bond in May.  There are a lot of events being held for the holidays and board members will be showing up to many of them to give information.  The Board will decide in January if they will go out for the bond.

 

Community Patrol: R Cannon

Good to be back, thank you to Derek for holding down the fort while he was out.  The CP is currently down to 10 members so they are limited in what they are able to do, looking forward to Deputy Kaiser back.

 

ODOT: K Kalsch

Terra is at a conference and unable to attend today.

Start Street Bridge is going forward, working on the design concept for the one way traffic which will come up when the bridge is being worked on.  Right now they are looking at solar panels that will have delay signals on them so traffic approaching will have a stop, and the alternate side will have a green light that will "read" cars and will then stop traffic, delaying the time for as long as the slowest traveling car will be estimated to cross the area.  This design will direct traffic on to the one lane away from the bridge that will be open, and allow workers some protection with distance from the job.  There will be on alternative route suggested, it will create additional pressure on Woodard as people take that road instead of working with the delay.  You should start seeing the signal system around January.

Repairs to Bridal Veil bridge will also begin in January.  Original plan had the work being done under the bridge with minimal traffic impact.  The contracting company has presented a plan with flaggers working daily, this is being studied.  The work will happen between January 1 and May 15.

Viaduct work is happening on the West viaduct.  Weather permitting they will be pouring the new deck before long.  This deck will go over the existing deck to increase the strength and improve weight limits.  The work will be continuing until May 15.

The tunnel project has seen extensive delays.  Two weeks ago there was a Grand opening with approximately 500 people shuttled in, but then it was closed again to continue work.  It is not expected to be fully open for a while.

The Governor came out with her budget for and there are some contingencies for ways to get funding to ODOT, but that won't be in effect before June, if they do pass.  ODOT will be running with 2/3 of staffing and the Old Scenic Highway will have work focused from Troutdale to Larch. This means plowing to Ainsworth may not happen, or may be delayed.  This has raised concerns for the Fire Department and Emergency response, but they can only do what they can.

ODOT does not expect to have additional money this winter, to prepare they have stocked up on Magnesium, salt and gravel.

They have received the concern regarding the water coming out of the ditch at Nielsen, they will address it when they have staff.

 

Multco road: unable to attend, sent email T. Kunter:

Just an update that both Evans sinkholes were repaved yesterday, crews will be back to seal the edges on the pavement patches today and then will be moving to Woodard to seal some prior work on the hill to the HWY from Seidl and then do some asphalt edgework on the eastbound route on Woodard from Ogden to Neilson. This edgework will bring back the road where there is a large section that has broken off over the year

We have a meeting on the Stark Street bridge on Thursday and I'll bring up the detour routing to them to see if we can get some signage placed on 257th for that request. I don't want to put out a VMS board at this location as we get a lot of theft on those units but we could make some hard signage to place out. I'll check in with them and get back to you on the detour route signs next week.

We are currently holding on ODOT to approve the traffic control plan for a lane closure at the bridge which will bring it down to one lane for a section near the bridge. ODOT has had that paperwork for a few weeks now so just waiting on their approval. The overhead and other utilities have been relocated, so we are just waiting to begin demo work once we get that approval from ODOT on the traffic control plan. The work here will require us to close the south lane of the HWY near the bridge for a period of time to place equipment and provide a safe buffer for workers, I am not sure on yet on the duration this will be closed and likely will be pending based on what is found during demo. Our traffic control plan which again is being reviewed would add a temporary traffic signal to this section to control that lane closure.

 

Oregon Parks and Rec: D. Spangle

Unable to attend, preparing for winter

 

A portion of the Safety Meeting Notes from November 6, 2024.  The rest of the notes will be posted once completed.


Multco Road: T. Kunter
We have switched from summer to fall/winter task, like ditching, but mowing will also be continuing.
The signs for ice are being opened, but they are looking at being more purposeful with the messaging.  Right now there is a plan to add three cameras around East County that will show the road where there are known issues.  It is not clear where the one on Larch will be located, but there will be one somewhere along the route. (Discussion: time of the year when the curve above Donahue is iced when the rest of the road is clear.  Would the school district and the County roads be willing work together to report road conditions?  The CSD transportation supervisor is out in the early hours and it could be beneficial to reach out to each other.)
FEMA dollars will be coming in for work on Gordon and Knieriem.  The timeline for receiving funds is unknown, but they have been approved.  Once the funds are received the Community will be notified when work can begin.
FEMA will also be sending money to assist with some of the damage that was caused by the ice storm earlier this year.  There are processes that need to be followed to get funds from FEMA and they are going through it now.
The crews are out doing sinkhole repairs on Evans.  Due to the weather the holes will have a temporary finish until an asphalt top can be done.
The County is waiting on the engineer to get the plans done for removing (or not replacing) the guardrail at Lampert and Seidl.  A Stop Ahead sign will be placed in the area instead of the guardrail.  Funding will be provided by the driver's insurance.
Gravel road maintenance is being done right now.  This includes working again on Howard road, washboards have been coming up with the trucks coming out too fast and with too much weight.  The road was done with a grind in place, with the asphalt topping on the road being ground up and remaining on site.  The ground asphalt binds better.  This process will be used next year on other roads, such as Clara Smith and Reed.
Stark Street Bridge work:
There was an engineer change with the County a day before the bridge became an issue, and Lance Calvert is now doing the engineering for the project.  He is very much about getting in and getting the work done.  Thank you to ODOT for all the help they are giving on this project.
On November 13, 2024 we should see utilities being relocated (this could vary by a day either way).  The power poles need to be raised so the contractor can get in and work.  The water line has already been addressed, and NW Natural has been moved.
Construction may start on November 18, 2024 depending on the moving of the utilities.
The damaged wall will be removed, then the new footings will go up, along with the new wall.  This will initially be shot crete, then it will be covered by the rocks that were on the bridge.
The road there is 55 mph and the County is looking to put in ways to slow traffic down at that location to stop people from hitting the bridge approach.  Different ideas are being considered, including having a three way stop similar to the Troutdale bridge location.
The County is looking at a partial opening of the bridge in February, which would be one lane of traffic.  How to have the one lane open so traffic can flow both ways is still being configured.
December should see the bulk of work on the wall construction, depending on the weather.  The work is currently estimated to be completed in March, with a brief shut down for paving of the deck separate from the wall repair.  This is being done since holes were discovered in the bridge deck, some up to eight inches, and now that they are repaired a repaving is being scheduled when the proper weather conditions are back.
This repair plan is expected to last for ten to fifteen years, while the County is looking at a longer term replacement plan.
Discussion was held on how much information the Community would like to see regarding the bridge progress.  The more the better was the overall consensus.

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.

 

 

 

 

Safety Meeting

June 3, 2024

NorthEast Multnomah County Community Association (NEMCCA)

 

OSP - Lt. Huskey

I can't make it today we have radio programming occurring.

As of today, we will have radio communication with most of our partner agencies throughout Clackamas and Multnomah counties. Today's fix was the MCSO encryption issue.

Patrol Staffing is running a solid 57%. I have three Recruits being coached as we speak and two at the academy.

Effective July 1, OSP has a regional restructure. This adds the St. Helens worksite to me. So, the Portland Area Command will be all of Clackamas, Multnomah and Columbia counties. This move will not affect staffing issues.

 

Bureau of Emergency Communication: R. Cozzie

BOEC has 103 certified call takers and 74 fully trained dispatchers

911 call volume is beginning to decrease

Non-emergency calls are also declining (due primarily to Case Service phone tree implementation)

Call answering times continue to improve

911 phone system hardware update scheduled this fall

Specific data is available on our website: BOEC Director's Report | Portland.gov


BOEC Director's Report
Monthly report from the Portland Bureau of Emergency Communications Director.



 

Forest Service: D. Mysinger

There will be a full staff of seasonal workers at Multnomah Falls, which will be great for everyone.  Most of the trails are open, check before you go.

 

Historical Society: M. Freund

Framing is done and wiring is happening the archive room.  Move on to insulation after inspections.

Tea fundraiser will be held June 8, 2024, its been sold out for a while, thank you to everyone who bought tickets and is helping put this on.  It will be held at the Corbett Community Church this year.

 

Mt Hood Community College: D. McKeel

School year is coming to an end, graduation will be June 15, 2024.

The budget has been approved, flyers have gone out to the community with class offerings, please look at it.

The school will be going out for a bond in November.  They are in an information gathering stage right now for what the community believes is a priority and they are happy to come and talk to any group who'd like to hear what is being proposed and what they'd like to see.  Final decision by the Board if they will be going for the bond will be made in July.  Mt Hood CC hasn't passed a bond in 50 years and this is being put out for facilities, not for operations.  The bond is being put together based on the Facilities Master Plan and addresses safety concerns (right now there is no way to lock down the campus), seismic issues and fire concerns.  There will not be any new buildings, it will be repurposing of existing buildings and upgrades.  The bond is for $131 million and will be $.25 per $1,000 assessed value, or an estimated $5 per month.

 

Corbett School District: D. Fialkiewicz

School is over for the summer, thank you so much to Community Patrol for all the help with traffic during the year and for helping with graduation last week. The graduation parade from Dairy Queen to the school was amazing, thank you to Corbett Fire and Multnomah County Sheriff's Office for helping make that successful.

Haley (Potts) and Sammi (Blume) presented last night at the Grange and have been interviewed by OHSU who is interested in setting them up with a lab space and possible grant.  Thank you to NEMCCA for letting them present at the Safety meeting last month and making contacts.

The electric truck and van have arrived at the school (F150 Lightening truck, white cargo van) and the chargers have been installed and are working.  If you need a quick charge and the school isn't using it for their vehicle, you can download the app, scan it, (rate is $0.0), hook up and charge your vehicle.  The chargers (two) are in front of the High School gym.

The District has received a PGE and secondary EPA grant that is bringing in two EV buses.  One will be coming this year, the second one next year.  Within five years the goal is to have ten of the twelve buses be electric.  PGE has been a huge help!

(Woodard school zone sign discussion with County and ODOT.  Since the County makes and places the signs, but ODOT has control over all School zone signs, it was suggested AskODOT be contacted for help in getting this sign pushed through.)

June 11, 2024 PGE will be giving a presentation at the Main High School gym from 5-7.  Food will be served.

July 4, 2024 will have Pancake breakfast at the MPB room, a car show in the parking lot, beer garden across the street with music featuring Dan Wold and his band, and a band will also be playing at the soccer field later in the day with fireworks starting after dark.

State Grange has contacted the school asking if they could host the 2025 convention at the school.  The school will be working with Sara Grigsby and getting more information on what this will involve, but its very exciting.

There are 73 graduates in this year's class, and approximately half will be attending MHCC including our top runner in Track and Cross County, Ava Detter.  It is a great opportunity for students to be able to attend our local community college.

In addition, CSD is forming a partnership with MHCC for a back up graduation location since we can't always count on sun during May.

 

Grange: S. Grigsby

Is NEMCCA planning on holding a debate/forum with Helfrich and Poublon?  (Yes, in September or October, details will be nailed down at next Board meeting.)

Looking forward to finding out more about what will be involved with having the 2025 Grange Convention in Corbett.

The Senior lunch is being held once a month right now at the Grange, it will be the last Monday of the month, so June 24 this month, starting at 11:30.

 

Multnomah County Emergency Management: R. Higgins

Corbett School District and Corbett Water District have asked for assistance addressing issues caused by the January ice storm.  FEMA is sharing a space in their office and they will help with getting forms processed.  They are looking for a 75%-100% coverage of items.

(Roads discussion: there has to be proof the issues were caused by the ice storm, it can't be used for other maintenance.  The slide off Gordon Creek qualifies, but the issues on Clara Smith and Pounder can't be linked to the ice storm.)

PGE meeting on June 11 at Corbett High School gym.

MCEM did fire response exercise on May 7 and will be doing an exercise this weekend on door to door notifications during a fire.  This will not be done in the community.

Lydia is the contact person for community engagement and emergency preparedness.  She will be helping with the FEMA resources, for those who don't qualify for the FEMA funds there will be mitigation funds coming available. (Discussion with Roads on these funds.)

Homeland Security is offering grant money focused on terrorism reduction with an application deadline of June 18, 2024.  The County is available to assist with these applications.

 

Springdale Job Corp:  D. Barrett

Deroll is the new Center Director and has been here almost three months.  He comes to us from New Haven, CT and has been with the Job Corp for thirteen years.  His mission is to have a safe and inclusive community and they are working to revamp the current system and processes.

The Job Corp is coming up on its 60th Anniversary and will be inviting members of the community and partnering agencies to celebrate with them.  As an organization the Job Corp is interested in recruiting students, and for finding placements for their students.  They are always looking for those to partner with, if you have an interest please reach out to them.  One of the local partners they are working with is the Corbett School District for their Safety and Office students.  (Discussion: maybe one of their students would be interested in the intern job offered by CWD.)

Sewage pumps failed last week, hoping to have them fixed by Thursday.

Three bids have come in for replacing the roofing for the dorms, looking forward to having this job complete.

MCSO will have training on the center this coming Tuesday.  The center is required to have four trainings a year and they appreciate the help in getting this done.

Would like to work with Corbett Fire on a drill.

 

Multnomah County Roads: E. Johnson

Discussion on FEMA funds.  The County had an engineer out who was able to certify the slide was caused by the freezing during the January storm and they will be looking to get assistance with the repair cost.  This repair is being worked on.

Pavement repair will be done on Howard, Pounder and Clara Smith roads, Tyler will be getting more information out.  Vegetation work will be going forward.

Garlic mustard and blackberries were sprayed by the County, Wasco County, and East Soil Conservation.  (Discussion about where plants were sprayed, what is a priority, etc.)

(Discussion: what is the plan regarding the leaking abandoned pipes from the Water district that are now coming to the surface, potentially leading to erosion under the roads?  Will the agencies be working with CWD to remove the problems?  The water coming to the surface off Lucas was fixed, but there was another situation reported on Larch and nothing has been done.  ODOT said this is an infrastructure issue for CWD, not an ODOT or County issue.  County asked for location and will look at it.)

 

MCSO: Deputy Kaiser

The County has gone to encrypted radios so if you've been use to following along on the scanner, you won't be able to anymore.  Agencies are switching to match for communication.

A person working on his parent's property found an unexploded device and contacted MCSO for assistance. Portland bomb squad came out, dug a hole and exploded the bag of blasting caps.  If you find something that looks like dynamite or blasting caps on your property call it in, the materials get more unstable as they age and can be dangerous.

MCSO and Darcie Arnold will be getting together to get the route and staging area lined up for the 4th.

SWAT and other agencies were holding training off Donahue last month.

(Discussion: a flyer had been received by community members and they wanted to know if it was legitimate as they'd like to help the Deputies in any way they could.  Calls were made and the flyer was verified.  The Association has their own website: mcsodsa.org)

 

ODOT: T. Lingley

Viaduct work is underway and the contractors are not allowed to impact traffic after 9 a.m.  This will change after October when the West Viaduct will be closed to ALL traffic- vehicles, bikes, pedestrians- as there will be no deck on the bridge.

Wahkeena is only accessible by the return trail from Multnomah Falls

Congestion mitigation began on May 14th and there is a flagger at Multnomah Falls seven days a week, and timed use permits started on May 24 at the I-84 parking lot.  This is being done with a funding cooperative with MCSO, OPRD and the County and the work being contracted out to a public entity.

There are walk up options to purchase permits at Cascade Locks and Troutdale if you can't get them online.

Sasquatch Shuttle is one of the public pieces of the congestion mitigation, as is the Waterfall Trolley.  These pieces move around 1,000 people a day right now, which keeps a lot of vehicles off the road. Please consider using the shuttles when you head into the Waterfall Corridor.

Mitchell Point tunnel opening has been pushed back until later in the summer.

ODOT has received eleven million towards completing the historic state trail, which is about a quarter of what was requested.  The work will need to be phased due to funding.

K. Kalsch

Last year there was a change in traffic flow at the Lodge, this has been helpful in keeping traffic moving.

Maintenance work will be reduced.  The budget is the same money, but the money doesn't go as far as it used to.  ODOT is looking at a 30% reduction in the 2025-2027 session.  The budget breakdown is 52% goes elsewhere, 48% goes to the County and Cities.  Of that, 9% goes to the actual maintenance.  Gas tax would need to come up $1.00 a gallon to make up for funding.

Work will be done on the sink area on the Old Highway next to the bottom of Larch.

They will be doing guardrail work.

Mower is down, will try to get the highway mowed in Corbett prior to the 4th of July parade like they normally do.
May do some ditching towards the fall, but right now focus will be on I-84.

Expect things to be grim.

 

Oregon Parks and Rec Department: D. Spangler

Gearing up to full operations, have brought in all seasonal staff at this point.  Had a couple of big weekends, including the one with the Northern Lights.  Are looking at upcoming star parties to not impact roads.  Last year they filled Rooster Rock during the star gatherings, and that is 1,500 spots.

Thank you to MCSO for filling the spot with OPRD so they will have an LEO available.

Women's Forum work is on complete pause for developing.  They are working with the County to combine the two separate tax lots.  The location planned for the parking lot is actually a County Road, so there are no plans for development at this time.

Vista House is having a survey regarding work needed done.  There is leaking and the entire building needs accessed by engineers to see what can be done in the short term for water mitigation, and in the long term.  Some areas needing looked at for the short term would be skylights and balconies.  Between NSA, County and SHPO things are complicated, but we can say things are now moving forward.

 

Corbett Water District: H. McGivney

Introduced Kelsey, recent hire as a new district clerk.

The testing for leaks had been looking for chlorine, but now they are finding the abandoned pipes have filled with water and are coming to the surface with the same pressure as a leaking pipe.  They will be looking into a solution.

They are in the process of applying with FEMA to handle the damage done at the Larch Mountain Reservoir and will be meeting with them next month.

With the lead and copper rule revision the district needs to catalog all lead in the system.  This needs to be documented not only on the District's side, but also the owner side of the meter.  This needs done by October.

The District received a grant from SDAO for an intern, they are looking for a college student or someone heading in to college to work on the GIS system.  If you or someone you know is interested please email Heather: clerk@corbettwater.com

 

Concerned Citizens:  Junkyard off Woodard Road

There is a large pile of crushed vehicles being stacked on property off Woodard.  What can be done to get this hazard removed?  (Discussion)

 

Safety Meeting Notes (NEMCCA)

April 3, 2024

Historical Society: M. Freund
The Tea fundraiser will be held June 8, 2024 at the Corbett Community Church.  This is being moved to help with parking and access.  The cost of the ticket will be $45 per person of which $22.50 is tax deductible. This year's theme is "Legends of the Past and Present" with a presentation by Linda Holden, who is the Great-grand daughter of Margaret Henderson.  Invitations are available, seating is limited.
 

Corbett School District: D. Fialkiewicz
The school is working on the budget, they are hopeful that no positions will need cut. New calendar is being approved this year which will remove one day in October and February by not having school on Friday when there is no school on Monday.  There will also be a change where Thanksgiving week will be off completely, pushing the last day of school to June 10, 2025.  Graduation will also be closer to that date.  This year's graduation will remain in May.
 Corbett Fire Department: D. Redfield\First chest pain call this year on Larch Mt Trail, good outcome, patient was Life Flighted.
The district is building a new Stokes basket, can't find exactly what we need so have to build one and put on brakes.  This is necessary as we sometimes need two at the same time. (Discussion:  the Fire Department might want to contact Vulco or UPCO for battery pack and motor, see if you can get it donated as a prototype.)
Talking with Forest Service to put an AED halfway up the trail, preliminary stage.
Applications for the Ferd Riehl Scholarships are available, scholarship breakfast will be June 1, 2024.
 
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department:  D. Spangler
There are plans to have AEDs at Dabney, Rooster Rock and the Vista House by summer, along with some portable ones in vehicles.
MCSO can meet this year's contract, will have a deputy dedicated to Parks by June 13.
Bringing back seasonal workers with the first round of interviews yesterday.  Looking to have a full staff this year.
Latourell has met some setbacks.  The contractor failed to order the needed rails and it will be June 8, 2024 before the original rails would arrive.  They are looking for an alternative.  The lower Falls area is open, the upper Falls are not at this time.
There are no suspects for the recent break in at Vista House.
 
Friends of Sandy River Delta: B. Adams
The Friends have purchased 100 tons of quarter minus with Bruce Rickert hauling the rock for them.  Bruce and Dave Adams have place 75 tons at this point. All funds have been donated and no volunteers are paid for their work.
While working on the first pile a woman from the County came out, scouting for places for low level offenders to work.  She brought out eight young people to help, and they were all hard workers and very pleasant.  Their help was greatly appreciated.
Working with the Forest Service to figure out the best way to get around the back part of the loop. There is an issue with the Tribe and that work may not be done this year.
 
Mt Hood Community College: D. McKeel
The Board is working with a consultant on the bond, they haven't passed one in 50 years and are working off the Master Plan to address priorities.  They will be re-purposing existing space, there will be nothing new built.
A Community group is reporting to the Board on areas where they see need. Based on the data the Board will be able to determine where more polling is required.
The College is also going through their budget process.
Construction Pathway for English Language Learners (CPELL) re-opened on April 2, 2024. This 12 week program will take students from training to an apprenticeship or job.
The College goes through an accreditation process every five to seven years and they just received their current one.  What makes the college most proud is the accreditation teams comment regarding MHCC's commitment to supporting their students.
Enrollment is up.
Teeth cleanings are free at the dental college.  The students are very thorough, they will clean and do a health assessment under staff supervision.  https://www.mhcc.edu/community-resources/dental-hygiene-clinic

Columbia Grange: S. Grigsby
At the member's meeting they have kicked off a Community Speaker program, starting with the Corbett School District Superintendent, D. Fialkiewicz.  This is a great way to get to know people in the Community beyond their job.  Derek was a wonderful guest, making a great kick off and this will be happening monthly.
The Grange is bringing back Senior Lunches.  These will be held the last Monday of the month, and the first one that was held last month went well.  Eve Nilenders did a fabulous job presenting information on RideShare.
Game night will be held monthly at the Grange.
They are doing a partnership with Menucha for music events.
Working with Duane Redfield on an AED-CPR class, which will be held in the next couple of months, dates to be determined.
There will be a meet and greet with Nick Poublon on April 26 at 5pm, who is running for District 52.
 
Corbett Water District: H. McGivney
There has been a big project going on at Camp Angelo.  This work has made the hydrant independent of the water meter.  They can now isolate Camp Angelo if they have to track down a leak.
Ponds one and three are now cleaned.
The District is looking to hire temporary field workers this summer.  Job Opportunities - Corbett Water District
The Emergency Preparedness Committee is meeting once a week.
The District is working on their budget, the next meeting on April 11, 2024 will be in person or zoom at the fire hall.
There will be a meeting on the Larch Mountain Reservoir on April 3. 2-24 at 4 pm.  This will be a zoom only meeting.
 
Community Patrol: R. Cannon
The CP vehicles are in getting their updates done with the new MC Volunteer logos at the County's request. Hope to start ramping up patrols, getting out into the Gorge once the vehicles are back.
The patrol will be involved with the 4th of July parade again this year.
 
Springdale Job Corp: S. Closser
The campus is thirty days in to the new administration and things are going really good.  Student and staff morale is up, there are 77 residents (full capacity is 139 with 120 in residence) with four new coming on board.  The campus can hold 65 residential students until the dorms are repaired, so they will be growing with non-residential students for now.  (These students will live off campus and SJC provides transportation through a school bus or shuttle.)
There is a new Center director, Deroll Barrett, who is originally from Jamaica and brings a lot of fresh energy to the center.
The center is getting spruced up, fences repaired, trees cut, painting, new signage and looking at the long run, water lines fixed.
 
OSP: Lt Huskey
Staffing still running at 62%. I have 3 Recruits in training and one being hired on June 1st. We recently got our radios retouched and now have the ability to talk to MCSO.
 
MCSO: Deputy Kaiser
There is a Wildfire Evacuation Plan being presented on April 18, 2024 at the fire hall.  Presentations will be put on by Multnomah County Emergency Management and MCSO.
Community Patrol volunteers are getting some Yak Tracks and a box of mega-movers.  Also two boxes of medical stock bag packs, two AEDs which have been repurposed and will be put in the vehicles. Shirts are being changed from green to yellow and they are doing what is needed for accreditation.
There are sixteen volunteers right now and they are all fantastic.
 
ODOT: K. Kalsch
The good weather brought out a lot of traffic, ODOT shut down the highway at the Vista House on Saturday.  There is no longer a summer season, its an all the time happening.
The Emergency Closure gate coming down the highway at Angles Rest was hit by vandals.  With the new battery operated Sawzalls its getting harder to maintain our infrastructure.
Money has been set aside for the Larch Mountain Slide area and work will be done in April or May.  This will be to smooth the road, not to raise the guardrails.
Guardrail damage on the freeway is being repaired as this is critical to safety.
May or June ODOT will be switching to grass mowing. They will try to get to Corbett before the 4th of July parade.
Right now it does not look like they will be able to ditch the old highway.
Current work items doe not have a lot of money, what you're seeing being done right now is work that was budgeted in past funding.
(Discussion: With the tolling issue being shut down by the Governor, what can we expect?  At a recent SDAO meeting one item mentioned was it would take a $.50 per gallon gas tax increase to cover the gap. Region 1 ACT - What will lack of tolling due to funding: https://www.oregon.gov/odot/get-involved/pages/act-r1.aspx)
One of the impacts of the funding change can be seen in the stopping of the 80 feet of guardrail repair that was being done at Multnomah Falls.  That work averages $1,000 per foot and that money equates to a staff member.
 
ODOT: T. Lingley
The summer congestion is here, we aren't really getting a break during the year.
Congestion mitigation at Multnomah Falls is starting.  There will be a flagger at the Falls starting on May 17 and will go through September 9, 2024.  There may be flaggers working on the weekends on either side of these dates.  Funding is coming from the Forest Service and Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.
Sasquatch Shuttle will be leasing the parking lot at Multnomah Falls and will be charging for parking once the Kiosk is up.  During the peak hours parking per hour will run $20, but people can take the shuttle from Bridal Veil for free once they pay to park, $5 per vehicle at Bridal Veil.
I-84 parking lot will begin timed use on May 24, 2024.  You will need to pay a $2 processing fee at recreation.gov or you can get a pass in person in Troutdale or Cascade Locks.  Plan ahead so you will have a parking place.
Columbia Gorge Express will begin shuttles on April 24, 2024, there will be eleven stops at day at Multnomah Falls.
The Viaduct work is on-going with the staging area on the Western side of Multnomah Falls.  Look for daytime closings East of Multnomah Falls once the days are approved for work.  Lane closures will occur until October, when the road will be completely closed to all traffic (cars, bikes, walkers).  A detour will be in place and will be well signed.
The State trail at Mitchell Point will be opening this summer with a re-dedication.  The Columbia Express shuttle will provide transit on the day of the celebration.
A footpath from I-84 to the Sandy River Delta is under design. There are challenges due to the flood areas.
ODOT's Incident Response team is having to do hazard tows on highway ramps. Do not park on the ramps, this is a public safety issue.

NEMCCA:  V. Purvine
Wildfire Excavation plan presented by MCSO/ MCEMS on April 18 at 6:30.  Meet and Greet the candidates for District 4 County Commissioner on April 25 at 6:30.
Let your County Chair, Commissioner and Sheriff know that you'd like the Community Resource Deputy Position funded!