Notes provided by Victoria Purvine with NEMCCAEmail any questions to:
nemcca@outlook.comFacebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Northeast-Multnomah-County-Community-Association-1464772610280344
Safety Meeting October 2020ODOT: The Historic Columbia River Advisory Committee met remotely on September 24, 2020 and put together a letter they will be submitting regarding the development direction they would like to see for the Scenic Highway. The letter should be found at HistoricHighway.org and does recommend one way traffic.
Oneota Tunnel construction will begin its second phase on November 2, 2020. While the majority of the work will be interior there may be lane restrictions that could result in delays of up to 20 minutes. The days of construction work may be impacted by weather so look at tripcheck for updates. Phase one of the tunnel reconstruction was done in February of 2020 with the rock scaling, this second phase will be the rebuilding of the tunnel and is expected to go through Summer of 2021.
Mitchell Point Tunnel construction is expected to start early next year, a link to the Mitchell Point survey can be found here:
https://www.oregon.gov/odot/projects/pages/project-details.aspx?project=HCRHMP:
Clearing of gutters and debris from under guardrails has been done on I84 but no maintenance is planned for the Old Scenic Highway on these two issues this Fall.
The missing guardrail by the Vista House was caused by a car running in to it. The car was stopped by the guardrail, but the railing went over the embankment. The contractor who does their concrete guardrail repairs is busy on another project, they are looking for someone else to fix the issue.
Forest Service: The visitation at Multnomah Falls is lower than usual with only 2,200 visitors on site last Sunday. The visitors center is not open to the public but a visitors booth is set up to answer questions and provide maps for those in need.
The majority of the seasonal employees are wrapping up their summer this week, two will remain until the end of October.
The GS7 position should be starting full time at the end of October depending on final hiring date.
The Historic Columbia River Highway parking lot at Multnomah Falls will remain closed through the winter with parking only for staff and volunteers. The public will be directed to the I84 parking lot.
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department: Seasonal employees will be leaving at the end of October. Due to the current situation the number of these employees were already cut 70%.
Vista House will remain closed during the winter.
Ainsworth State Park will close at the end of October, they will be winterizing the lower bathroom at Dabney soon and will close it as soon as the work is complete.
There is an on-going problem with feces in the tunnel at the Vista House, to the point employees have to go out and clean the tunnel daily, sometimes needing a shovel to remove the problem.
* Question regarding the Benson to Multnomah Falls trail improvements - funding at this time is not available.
* Question regarding the improvements at Women's Forum - funding is being cut in several areas right now, including projects where materials are on hand but can not be installed. Right now any improvements at Women's Forum are on hold.
Multnomah County Code Enforcement Health Division: Right now the focus is on issues with Covid requirements, for example: restaurants that continue to have salad bars, issues with mask compliance, etc.
Right now the main issue has been the ongoing dumping of bags of litter and human feces that are being deposited weekly in the Corbett area. These bags are showing up between midnight and 5am, typically over the weekend, and Mr. Thomson is working nights to track down the ones leaving the bags. The bags are placed on the side of the road, usually on the fog line although sometimes in the roadway, and it is believed at least two people are involved with the dumping.
Bags that remain intake are picked up, those that are not are left to drift into the road right of way and in to the ditches. This is a bio-hazard and the Community is asked to report any information they may have on who may be leaving the bags. Dave Thomson's phone numbers are: Main: (503) 988-3464 Direct: (503) 988-7709
To date over 100 bags have been recovered and there is the possibility of up to $992 per occurrence levied as a fine. Consideration may be given to waiving the fines in total or partially if the persons doing it come forward and get the situation corrected that is causing them to leave the bags. If this is a failed septic system there are avenues for assistance with getting permits and directing to financial assistance if needed.
Thank you to everyone for their help with this matter.
Corbett School District Superintendent Dan Wold: Mr. Wold introduced himself to those in attendance and answered questions. He is retired and applied to be the interim Superintendent as this works well with getting closer to family. The position was listed as one year, but due to the Covid complications there is a roll over clause for a two year position. He is interested in the full time position.
Mr. Wold has a background in law enforcement and was a representative for the Superintendents in Nevada with the Emergency Management Systems in the area.
*Question on bond - the plan is to improve the Forest Service center to house the middle school students until a building can be placed on the main campus. After that the direction is to possibly turn the off campus site into a CTE campus. The bond is being geared to a shorter term pay off.
NEMCCA: Members met with Chair Kafoury regarding the current code enforcement practices and some of the issues surrounding the system of reporting, the lack of funding, and the frustration of those who follow the requirements with those who choose to ignore the codes. Current staffing, backlog of cases and funding were discussed with the Chair getting back to the board after meeting with various department heads.
MCSO is putting out the CRO position for applicants, input was given on what we would like to see in the Community.
MultCo Roads sent a statement: Our budget and the work associated with it has been severely diminished this season; to the tune of almost 3 million dollars. The impact of this is a smaller team, delayed response times, and a more focused approach to safety and essential related work. For mowing, we are focused on sight vis issues and sign obstruction. The plan for snow removal will be to focus on priority roads, first and if the weather remains challenging, I would expect some delays to attend to more remote areas.
