August 3, 2022
Safety Meeting
There was a large number of residents from Latourell who want action taken on the e-bikes business that has set up in the County Road Right of Way. The business is using the State Parks address as their place of business address on their license, has no permit to operate from Multnomah County or any other agency, is using the parks shelter to re-charge the batteries for the bikes he is renting out, is using the State Parks field as his parking lot, and is sending the renters of the bikes out on the same road the construction crews are using for access to replace the bridge. State Parks is getting mail at their building for the business owner.
Traffic is crowding the sides of the road into town as the permitting system is sending people out of the Waterfall Corridor permitting area and there isn't enough parking at the falls to support the cars. This is causing concern regarding emergency vehicle access, and creating a high potential for an accident between vehicle and e-bike.
It is understood by those living in Latourell that they are in a Special Management zone and have been told they can not have any business in front of their homes and they are frustrated that the County and State Parks have not shut down the e-bikes. County roads sent a message saying they are working with the owner of the e-bikes regarding zoning and the process he would need to go through to get a permit. (Or if it is possible) The question for those living in the area and being impacted is why are they even discussing this with him, why haven't they gone in and shut him down?
Multiple agencies are suppose to meet to address this issue and were to get back to the designated community member and NEMCCA.
(Response from Ross Kihs of Oregon State Parks to a citizen in Latourell -.... I’ve gotten reports from David Spangler, new Gorge Management Unit Manager, that we may have progress evolving very soon. In the short term I’ve discussed the matter with USFS, NSA, ODOT, and Multnomah County . We all agree that we need to come together and discuss safety and ebikes in general. But specifically to the Latourell community I want to t let you know I’ve asked Multnomah County to begin correcting this county ordinance infraction. We’ve all agreed that this is in their corrective jurisdiction. We will ask for a cease and desist in using OPRD’s brand and address.....)
Oregon Parks and Rec Department:
There is a fire ban now in effect, ,this includes no pellets and no charcoal. There was a small fire started behind the big restroom and the no fire rule is being enforced.
There was a drowning at Dabney recently and OPRD is looking at stocking throw bags at the park, and also starting to look at having life guards on duty similar to Glenn Otto. Discussion has begun on "what would it look like" to have them, and can the budget support keeping them once they are installed.
OPRD is contracting with a security service to patrol Dabney and Lewis & Clark State Parks . Parks has asked that these be armed patrol. This is a matter of timeliness and they are needed to be installed now. Patrol may begin as early as the second week in August. This is something they would like to explore having every year.
There is a cleaning crew at the Vista House four nights a week, you may see them if you're down there.
The Vista House will be closed the first weekend in August due to expected heat. There is no cooling system at the Vista House so when temperatures get too high they will not be opening.
There will be public meetings this fall regarding the Portland Women's Forum upgrades. It is possible the number of parking spots may be reduced from the last plans.
District 4- County Commissioner 's Office:
They appreciate everyone coming in from Latourell and letting them know about the issue. Their office will be working with a group of agencies to get this resolved.
The recent update they had regarding the Portland Women's Forum is the nature and cultural resource reviews have been done and the Parks is doing their due diligence on the project.
East County Flagship Library property down by Gresham City hall is going forward and they will start community planning in the next few months.
The East County Resiliency Hub is an off the grid building that will be available for residences to go to for resources in case of an emergency. The idea is once this hub is up and working it can be replicated in other portions of the County.
https://www.multco.us/commissioner-stegmann/east-county-issue-forum-resilience-hubs Corbett Fire:
Fire District 14 has partnered with Dicks Sporting Goods, Home Depot and Oregon State Parks to put up life jacket stations. The good news is the jackets are going out, unfortunately not all are coming back, but the hope is they are still being used by those who need them.
The recent drowning victim at Dabney was found using the Aqua Eye. There was some learning involved with the actual use as there were more people in the water looking for the swimmer and all showed up on the system. Currently Corbett is the only department in the State with an Aqua Eye, but that is expected to change over time.
The volunteers have been very busy and with the Waterfall Corridor being permitted those visiting the area have spread out into farther areas of the Gorge. This has resulted in the volunteers going outside their district to assist neighboring districts on calls. There was a grass fire started at Rooster Rock, another grass fire down by Multnomah Falls. One Sunday evening there were four call outs in a row.
One July 16, 2022 the Awards Banquet was held at Brickhaven. Thank you to the Thieman's for hosting.
Awards given:
Years of Service: Brent Younker 50 Duane Redfield 40 Daren Martin 35
Troy Younker 20 Joe Fahlman 15 Brad Loitved 15 Vance Rogers 10 Tim Downing 10
Firefighter of the Year: Tim Sherman Rookie of the Year: Kanyon Reams
Chief's Award: Jasmine Zimmer-Stucky
Thank you to Fire Marshall Flood Thank you to Anthony DeBlock
Fire Marshall Flood is stepping down from Assistant Chief duties and Troy Snelling is being sworn in as the new Assistant Chief.
The Department received a $35,000 grant which will be used to pay our volunteers, mainly for patrolling during extreme weather. This will be done to help protect the community during high fire danger.
Forest Service:
Restrictions are coming out this week, this is a little ahead of some neighboring forests so check before you head out.
The Mt Hood-Willamette Advisory Council is looking for some people to join. Its about a two day a year commitment and more information can be found at:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/willamette/workingtogether/advisorycommittees/?cid=STELPRDB5048434 A lot of notes were taken during the discussion with the Latourell community members and its definitely more than one issue.
There is a new interpretive lead field ranger, Lilly Carey has been a seasonal worker with the forest for a while and is now permanent.
(Discussion: push back from manager at the Falls regarding where emergency vehicles park and what requirements the various vehicles have, what can be done to smooth things along in the future.)
Citizens Patrol:
Break-ins are still happening, and they are getting bolder and bolder at the Falls. In one instance a group of three were cruising in the parking lot in a BMW with a female casing the parked cars. CP let them know they were watching them and they left.
Evening patrols are happening at the Vista House and below that area.
School will be starting soon, CP will be back out doing traffic in the afternoon, not sure about the morning, will see what works for the school.
Pioneers Association:
Annual Meeting will be September 11, 2022 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Oregon State Police:
Research into the e-bike situation and will meet with the group of agencies to see what can be done. There is some conflict with different laws so there are a few ways this can go.
OSP works well with County and they check in frequently with each other, they also try and cover for one another when they can when one staff member is across the County and it may take a little time to get to the incident.
They are short staffed right now, of the 34 staffed positions they are currently running at 12 for various reasons, but there are five people in the training academy right now. These five, if they all finish, won't be ready to go solo until Spring, but they are working to fill the non-staffed positions.
MCSO:
They too are running short staffed, but have recently picked up a few lateral transfers from Gresham .
Website for Citizen's Patrol is down. Corbett doesn't have a CRO at this time and some of the items have been dropped from the work load, but those should return once the CRO position is filled.
There was a posting on facebook about a boat and truck, with the boat ending up abandoned on the side of the highway. With the information that has been provided by the community they are working to track down who dumped it.
