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Thank you Victoria Purvine for spending your time putting this information together for the community!
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Safety Meeting April 5, 2023
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department:
We have been busy opening parks with all facilities open at this time.
We are working to get the car out of Women's Forum which is over the edge.
We in the process of repairing/replacing the fire system at Vista House to prevent false call-outs.
The Historic rock wall at Vista House will be done by the end of June and we will be removing the barriers preventing access to the circle around the building at that time.
ODOT:
Gorge Construction
Paving and resurfacing 6 miles of I-84 from Interstate 205 to 169th Avenue and from just east of 201st Avenue to Marine Drive (exit 17) is scheduled to begin mid-April, starting on the eastern half of the project first. Expect mostly nighttime work with some weekend closures near I-205.
Resurfacing inside the Toothrock Tunnel continues on eastbound I-84 by the Bonneville Dam (exit 40). Bridge work begins in mid-April. Around-the-clock single lane closures on I-84 from Sundays at 5 p.m. to Thursdays at 4 p.m. until Memorial Day. Periodic nighttime lane closures Sunday through Thursday nights between Multnomah Falls and Cascade Locks.
Historic Highway State Trail construction has an around-the-clock single lane closure on I-84 east until Memorial Day near Exit 56.
Construction of two new culverts under I-84 and the Historic Highway continues to drain storm water off the steep slope one mile west of Multnomah Falls, the site of nearly 30 debris flows in 2021. Periodic single lane closures on I-84.
More details and sign up for updates: www.i84GorgeConstruction.org
Comment now on ODOT projects planned for 2024-2027
ODOT wants your comments on projects planned for 2024-2027 in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, also known as the STIP, that lays out where we will invest federal and state money in the transportation system - everything from roads and bridges to public transportation to bike paths and sidewalks.
Join us to learn more and share comments before April 28 at ODOT’s website, online open house, or an in-person open house:
Oregon City: April 3, 2023, 4:30 - 6:00pm. Clackamas County's Development Services Building – Auditorium, 150 Beavercreek Rd, Oregon City, OR 97045
Beaverton: April 8, 2023, 11:00am - 1:00pm. Beaverton Library - Meeting Room A, 12375 SW 5th Street, Beaverton, OR 97005
Hood River: April 25, 2023, 4:30 - 6:00pm. Hood River Ty Taylor Fire Station, 1785 Meyer Pkwy, Hood River, OR 97031
Museum:
A fundraiser will be happening from May 5-May 7 with donations being accepted on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon.
The Sunday Tea fundraiser will be on June 11, 2023 starting at 1:30 p.m. at Glenn Otto Park. The cost per ticket is $40, you can purchase an entire table for $320 and bring all your friends! Donation cards are also available. If you would like tickets or an entire packet please contact Sandy Cartisser: 503-695-5153.
The heating has been installed in the building but is not yet energized.
Yard debris cleaning has begun.
There is an anonymous donor who is offering matching funds up to $50,000. This will be continuing throughout the 2023 year, so if you'd like to donate, please consider doing it now and "double" your donation.
Fire Department:
The department has gone out on 106 calls this year to date. Some of those have been ambulance only, a fair number of them to Thousand Acres.
Good News! The department has received a grant for approximately $350,000 from the State Fire Marshall. These funds were made available for Type 3 fire apparatus, Water tenders or Type 6 brush rigs. Corbett Fire sent in an application for a 2,000 gallon water tender and we will see it in about a year. It will be white with the Corbett Fire logo and will be stationed in the new structure in Springdale. This money was in the bond and now will not need to be spent.
Bond Update: Surveys on the properties have been completed and sites for the cisterns are being acquired. The removal of the oil tank behind the Corbett station has been completed. The soil was found to be contaminated and had to be dug down to 14 feet to get a clear test. Extra cost was associated with the extra work.
Tree work along the back will begin soon. Those trees that are decaying are going to have to come down.
The permitting process has started, Springdale should be fairly smooth, Corbett will probably take longer due to the NSA.
The Scholarship breakfast will be June 10th, so come to the breakfast on Saturday and then head over to the Tea on Sunday! Applications for the Scholarship are due on
May 1, 2023 so if you know of a local student who wants to apply, let them know. The Association is looking to award around $10,000 this year.
Firewise is going strong, thanks to all the hard work Corbett is now a Firewise USA Community.
AMR and all medical services have been stretched lately and in June you will see some BLS (Basic Life Support) vehicles responding to calls in Multnomah County. In the past there have been two paramedics responding to call with AMR, now you may have EMTs responding. The fire department can request ALS (Advanced Life Support) services if needed. This is being done in an effort to eliminate not having any ambulances available to respond to calls, or in the case of our area, having ambulances coming from across town to respond.
AMR is looking for 50 paramedics at this time, staffing levels, like in so many other agencies, is down.
Question: Insurance was dropped to a resident on Deverall. What has changed with Corbett Fire to cause this?
The ISO rating for a community is based 40% on the fire department response, 40% on the ability of the community to provide appropriate water, and 20% on the dispatch. Corbett has not changed on their ratings, but the new State Fire hazard map has offered insurance companies an opportunity to drop people or increase rates. Please let the Fire Department know if this has happened to you, they would like to track this information.
(The ISO (Insurance Services Office) Fire Score is a rating that determines how well the fire department can protect your community and home. Insurance companies use the score to help set home insurance rates, as a home that is less likely to be severely damaged or destroyed by fire is cheaper to insure.)
Grange:
The Legislative Committee has narrowed down the current bills in the House and Senate to nine that may affect the Corbett Community. These are regarding fire and water issues.
A questionnaire has gone out to those eleven people running for the Corbett School Board. The candidates have until April 15, 2023 to respond. These will be posted on the website.
Free Seeds- Walmart is donating seeds to the Grange and they are distributing them through the Helping Hands program, the school and to members. A box is also being left at the Fire Hall. Please take what you can use.
Corbett School District:
Thank you to NEMCCA and the other community groups for their letters of support for the one million dollar grant the school has applied for to put in a 3/4 mile asphalt walk path. Since coming to the school the Superintendent is working to make the school a hub of the community, and providing a safe place for residents to exercise would be a great addition.
The middle school mold situation has passed for all the classrooms and hallways except the one room where the issue originated. That room has been sealed off and will no longer be used. Students have returned to the building.
All permits have been issued on the Woodard building. They have started on the septic system and the Superintendent has called the Multnomah County Roads department and left messages twice with no response. He will be reaching out to them again.
Discussion: The fact that the County never installed a school zone sign on Bell so Law Enforcement can not enforce speeding or school zone violations. This has been an issue for ten years. When the Superintendent is able to get in touch with the County, would he please include the request for Bell road along with the Woodard road sign.
Three mental health professionals have been hired for the new mental health center, and they will be adding one more. Starting in May classes will begin on reducing stress and anxiety, this will be open to staff and community.
Springdale Job Corp:
Currently there are 74 students on board with the goal of having up to 87, which is all they can have on campus right now with the damage to the dorms.
Money has been approved for demolition of the eight dorm rooms, two hallways and two risers that were damaged during the water "leak". The contract will be going out in three phases to repair the building.
The center has been awarded money for Life/Safety items, around $131,000. This is work that was pointed out as needing done during a recent survey of the grounds.
Similar to other agencies, the Springdale Job Corp has 24 vacancies, including Center Director.
https://springdale.jobcorps.gov/employmentTrees have been damaging the fence so the center has been doing a lot of work on the back fence line, clearing of trees and brush.
Corbett Water District:
Currently going through their budget cycle. The revenue for the District is around one million and the cost of staff is 60% of that amount. With the remaining 40% they are limited to the projects they can do, but replacing the sand in the filter ponds needs done. In the past there hasn't been NSF approved sand, but now there is, with one supplier. This replacement will take half the working budget each year for the next three years.
The water district is applying for grants and would appreciate letter of support from other agencies and community groups. The demographics are difficult to qualify for many grants, we are not poor enough for some grants, but we also have customers who are not above the poverty line or are on a fixed income. Something that has to be taken into account and balanced when doing any changes to costs.
CWD will be enforcing the backflow regulations. All agriculture connections need to have one, and there is currently discussion on what is considered an irrigation connection rather than an agricultural connection.
The Fire Department has to have fire hydrants tested twice a year to meet the ISO criteria. In the past the Fire Department has been doing the testing, but it is normally the responsibility of the water district. The district will be transitioning the testing over to the water district, but will be working with the fire department as a team since the fire department has the necessary tools.
CWD and the Fire Department will be putting an interagency agreement together regarding the testing to create a good working relationship.
The Grange is putting together tours of the water treatment plant, let Ana know if you're interesting in taking one.
Board meetings will continue to be hybrid video meetings.
Discussion: With the staffing needs taking 60% of the budget and the sand filter taking half of the remaining 20%, what do you see as priorities for the remaining work that needs done?
The Master Plan has identified some priorities: the sand replacement, a new sampling station, two more Pressure Release Valves, maintenance on all of the PRV's, rebuilding of the major PRV's which needs done every 5-7 years (five are in the budget for this year).
Multnomah County Roads:
Here to introduce two new members to the Safety Meeting and to answer any questions.
Discussion: New signs requested for the Woodard school zone and also for Bell road. How do you get requests processed? A new sign request is put in the system (use seeclickfix), it will then go to an engineer who will determine if it is warranted. If it is, it will go into the system as needing made, the sign department will make it, and then it will be installed. There are currently 10,000 signs in the system, if you had an older request many were dropped when the County switched to the new computer system, try requesting again. There is no timeline for when the signs will be done, no one currently contacts a person who makes a request to let them know if the sign has been determined to be warranted or not. Information goes in to the County, but does not come back out.
Seeclickfix for reporting of road hazards and needed repairs is not the solution that the County appears to believe. Information from the system may say that the work has been dispatched to a crew, leading people to believe the work is being done, when it reality nothing will be happening in a timely manner. Work may be done by a crew and then six months later (with regards to potholes) a dump will come from the County updating work orders for work that had been done months prior, and in some cases needs done again. Seeclickfix is viewed as something that doesn't work, or something that is okay for items that can be postponed for several months, but not for work that requires immediate attention. The system closes any reports that say vehicles are being abandoned, even though its not a case of them being abandoned by someone dumping them, but due to road conditions created by snow and ice. Extremely hazardous conditions along lower Larch during the snow storm in early Winter were not addressed by the County and the reports to seeclickfix were immediately closed out.
Recent attempts to get snow plowed after 4:30 on Thursday resulted in locals plowing the road themselves to be able to get in and out. The community members were told Roads works Monday through Thursday until 4:30, if you contact MCSO regarding a hazard they can contact the person from the Roads department who has the dispatch phone, but they cannot order Roads to come out to do work, they can only recommend or close the road if its deemed too unsafe.
Roads stated that their Union does not require them to work mandatory overtime, they work M-Th until 4:30 and all work after those hours is voluntary. If the County Chair declares a County Emergency then they have to respond, but otherwise any person out working (snowplowing/vegetation cutting) is doing it voluntarily and if they have other plans they just say no. The County also requires two people to respond to any call out for safety. When asked, Roads said having a local community member come and be there for a safety net is not an acceptable option. MCSO said they can be available to assist with safety and have a Deputy respond to an incident if they are not busy in another area. It was asked if Roads has contacted the Fire Department to have someone come out and partner for safety, Roads has not done this and did not comment on it being an option. It was also pointed out that the fire department is voluntary and are always happy to help. Corbett Water said they have a plow on their truck so they can get to the treatment plant, would it be helpful to have them help with the plowing? Fire department has also purchased a plow since they need to be able to get firefighters in to respond on calls.
There are 14 people who work the roads, four of them do some additional hours. No one is on-call. Discussion regarding other agencies and businesses who have rotating on-call requirements or 24 hour crews was responded to with "those are private companies".
Roads was asked if the contact the School District regarding snow and ice on the roads to find out the local conditions since CSD has a Supervisor who drives the roads to check for bus safety since Roads is not aware of local conditions. They do not.
MCSO and Corbett Fire District #14 are here to support the Roads Department whenever they can.
The "stump dump" by Pounder and Littlepage has been looked at by the new engineer and one of the Supervisors. The Road right of way is 40 feet and some of the stream is not in the right of way, and there is also discussion by those who monitor the streams that the stumps could be good for fish and wildlife habitat. More work is being done and updates will come over the next few months.
The County is hiring a third Supervisor for Roads which should allow for some Supervisor time to travel the roads and monitor areas that need work. A couple of pages of notes had already been taken prior to the meeting.
Multnomah County Sheriff's Office:
The community may have noticed more patrolling in the Springdale area, there is also a desire to get the traffic speed trailer out in the community again, look for it.
There is an on-line form you can use to report abandoned vehicles in District 50, or you can call and ask to speak to a deputy. Go to
https://mcso.us/site/, pull down the forms file, go down to Abandoned vehicles. This sends an email to records and also sends a call out to a deputy. It also allows the system to keep track of what is called in, what action is taken, and when someone calls for a follow up it is available. While the on-line option is always available, please know MCSO is also there to talk to you in person if you prefer, it is not being done in place of personal contact.
Discussion: Has 311 made any difference in the call volume? There were some incorrect numbers being given out for unincorporated Multnomah County. MCSO went through the contact information and updates were made.
Big Picture - MCSO is down to only one vacancy on the patrol side, although the correction side is still down 50+ staff. Patrol was able to get some lateral transfers, about half of the new hires, so they able to get out on their own quickly. New hires are out about a year before they are able to respond to calls on their own.
The department is looking at long range staffing levels, balancing expected retirements and doing some over hiring now to compensate.
Forest Service and State Parks is in the process of getting their summer deputy on board, MCSO is just waiting on the signed contracts.
Enhanced traffic safety patrols will be seen over the next couple of months, including the Corbett area. A Sergeant is applying for some additional traffic safety grants that will be directed to the Corbett area to assist with the issues at the Vista House and the speed racers. The Sheriff was at a meeting in Corbett in February, heard those in attendance and is working to address the concerns.
MCSO has been working for the past two years to get a mental health professional to respond to calls involving persons in crisis. In the next one to two months MCSO will be looking to hire a mental health professional who will be a "Hot response Co-responder". This professional will be available not only for the call, but to do follow-up. The goal is to have the position on line by summer.
Discussion: Talk with the Superintendent regarding the mental health center that how the two agencies can help each other. You need to work with each other to be successful.
Forest Servicer:
Staffing issues are also affecting the Forest Service. Only one person applied for the seasonal position, usually have three. That person withdrew their application this week so there will be no designated seasonals. There will be one ranger at Multnomah Falls.
Timed ticket system will be starting back up at the I-84 parking lot.
Wahkeena picnic area is still needing a host if you or anyone you know is interested.
NEMCCA:
Hosted PGE at their March board meeting. Notes on that meeting are available on their facebook page or you can request an email.
Sheriff Nicole Morrisey-O'Donnell was at the February Board meeting with Captain Asboe. Thank you for coming out and listening to concerns, noticed some of the items in the Safety report were items brought up.
Deputy Chief Eriksen will be at the May 18th Board meeting for a listening session with the community regarding body cameras. Meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. at the Fire Hall.
