Safety Notes
November 1, 2023Thank you to Victoria Purvine and NEMCCA for taking notes!Historical Society: Progress is being made to get the septic permit signed off. With the requirement for an Authorization Notice to be updated, the drop boxes and drain lines needed to be found. The first line was discovered to be under the fill for the museum and there was questions on the usability of the remaining lines. EMS was hired to camera the lines, and after a brief snag on each line due to blockage, the three remaining lines were okayed for use.
One of the boxes was found to be a distribution box and had to be changed to a drop box, this was successfully done and documented. Paperwork has been turned in for a Certificate of Satisfaction and the only items left remaining are proving the three septic tanks that were removed were properly decommissioned. This may require a waiver of decommission depending on pictures, documents, records. We are waiting on the person who removed the tanks to fill out the paperwork.
Fire District: The Training Academy has begun with eight new recruits. They will be training twice a week, Monday evening with all the crew, and again on Wednesday evening with the academy. Training will be for six months and after one year they will be rated as Fire Fighter 1.
The District is working on the bond items: meeting with ODOT (which went well), Land Use planning, permitting, and plans. One of the new items you will see that was approved with the bond is the new rescue vehicle that should be in district in the next six months, depending on how the automotive strike affects production. The old oil tank in Springdale is still being worked on for removal and there is one more at the main station that will need removed once the conex boxes are moved.
If you are interested in learning CPR or taking other life safety classes please sign up at the fire station or contact Duane Redfield for information. The District will be offering classes at a low cost to the community, and you'll be learning on the new mannequins that will monitor efficiency and correct your technique as you learn.
Grange: On November 3 there will be the Annual pie contest and variety show. You still have plenty of time to make those pies! The event will be at the Grange between 6-9.
There is a community involvement film called "Join or Die" that will be shown on Tuesday, November 7 at 6:30.
Corbett Water District: There was a main line break this morning, the District Manager was out working on that break and would not make the meeting.
There was a meeting with Rockwood Water District and they shared their policy manual and what they charge with CWD. The Fire Line charge was $29 for Rockwood.
Oregon Parks and Rec Department: There will be two closures coming up, one that will impact the local area, which is Latourell Trail and trail head. Parks is meeting with the contractor today and the work will include replacing two bridges and the steps up to the View point. The trail will be closed for about six weeks, most likely until Mid-December.
Parks is in full Winter operations, seasonal workers are now laid off and the campgrounds will be closed as of today.
Dabney Springs continues to be a discussion regarding what is feasible to do, and is addressing the concerns that were brought forward at the last Safety meeting. There is no time line right now for when options may be available to the public.
Parks is continuing to work with the Community on the Women's Forum project. Thank you to all who have contributed to the project, they are still working on the design.
Vista House continues to have a water infiltration problem, one that has been in issue since it was built. Long and short term solutions are being considered as they are trying to figure out what can be done.
Vista House hours will be going to Winter hours on November 3rd. They will be Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon from 10-4 depending on weather conditions.
After weeks of trying to get the wind gauge up and working it does appear there has been a fix and you may expect to see readings starting next week.
Springdale Job Corp: The Department of Labor is changing the contractor for the campus and there may be some changes in leadership, possibly day to day operations. The current HLS contract will be extended for three months, then a new contractor will be coming in February 2024 for one year to make the necessary changes. After that year a new five year contract will be put out for consideration.
Currently there are 80 students on campus and new students are coming in every two weeks. The center would like to be up to full status of 130 students, but the dorms are on hold right now and DOL won't approve more spending on repairs until the new contractor takes over.
SJC was rated at number 24 two years ago, but satisfaction and ranking has fallen to 97 at this point. The change in contractors is intended to make the corrections to turn the center back around.
Corbett School District: The Trunk or Treat was a super successful event and will definitely be something to continue going forward! The number of kids attending was over 200 and there were around 25 trunks for the kids to visit.
There has bean a slight delay on the switch gear for the electric at the Woodard campus and there could be a small delay on closing the project, but they are still on track to open on January 8, 2024. The only reason they wouldn't make that date is if there is a major weather event that takes PGE off the project to repair power lines.
There has been no update on the school zone signs.
CSD received a grant for $260,000 for electric vehicles and will have a truck and cargo van on campus soon. There will also be two charging stations and these will be available to the public for use when the school is not using them. This grant was through PGE.
They have applied for another grant with PGE and another entity that would provide three EV buses and more charging stations.
Congratulations to the Volleyball team! For the first time in ten years they have made the final 8 and will be playing the first seeded team on November 3rd in Eugene.
Multnomah County Roads: There was discussion with CSD and Roads regarding the school zone signs, also historical signage with Reynolds, the time to process signage with ODOT, where the signs are in the process.
The Bell Road school zone sign has been made and is waiting to be installed. That should be going up over the next two weeks.
Staffing: good news, all apprentice positions have been filled! There are eight new staff members being trained.
Next week you will see flaggers on Gordon Creek. The County has a contractor doing core samples at approximately 2.5 miles where the trees came down. The will be looking at the best way to rebuild the bank. The work will be Mon-Thurs between the hours of 8:00 am to 3:30pm. Expect delays.
The vegetation specialist position is out for recruitment and should be filled by the end of November. The brush cutter was down for a couple of days but has returned to work (thanks given for all the clearing we've seen done). Hazardous tree discussion - best to use seeclickfix for reporting so they can track the process in the system.
Potholes and sinkholes - The drop at mile post two on Larch is being investigated. They don't know what is causing the drop, it is getting markedly worse, and will need to be dug up. The pot holes on Woodard are being repaired, there has been 15 ton of cold patch put down on Brower in an attempt to make that road smoother, workers were out this week on Brower. One of the gravel areas on Chamberlain has been patched, one more needs done. The sink hole on Seidl is top priority, that will be worked on ahead of others.
After the most recent hit of the Stark street bridge workers have put up "temporary" barriers. Rock that was damaged has been moved to be stored in case it can go back, and preliminary talks have started on replacing the bridge. This most likely means 8-10 years before any work begins, but at least the discussion has been opened.
Citizen's Patrol: They spent their Halloween at the Vista House making sure all went well. There was very little traffic this year, the high winds may have helped with the reduction. The wind has been a challenge at the school with signs not being able to be used due to the wind using them to push the body around. Thank you to Superintendent Derek for coming out and pitching in when they need help.
People have been great, thank you!
FireWise: On November 11 and 12 there will be a chipper pilot program operating at the fire station in the back yard area. This is a project funded by a grant that Firewise received which will be good for three years. This year will be used to work out the kinks, finding out if people will be able to bring limbs down to the chipper, if there needs to be a collection of limbs, what works best for the community. After the limbs are chipped the community can come and get the chips to use on their gardens, pathways, etc.
ODOT: As we have been warned now for several months, the level of services will be changing on the State roads. This will be a Statewide issue, but in the Corbett area the roads will be: I-84 staying at Level A, Troutdale to Larch will drop to Level D, Larch to Ainsworth Level E.
Gates may be closed to the Interstate if the forecast is for snow and ice, but will reopen as quickly as possible. Last year pilot cars were used to get traffic moving safely on the highway, with speeds being reduced into the 30s instead of full speed limit, this helped keep traffic flowing and cut down on accidents.
Expect the gates on the Old Scenic Highway to remain closed once I-84 is opened. It may be a few days before crews can make it to work on the lower level roads, depending on staffing and severity of the storm. ODOT will be doing what they can, when they can, but its going to be difficult for all, including those working. The District has lost 25 positions and there will be only 3-4 people available to work at any time, although they will be doing rotating shifts so coverage will be seven days a week. Things are just going to be different for a while.
With the school at Woodard opening in January there will be an impact on the potholes that remain at Nielsen. Closing Dabney Springs has made it safer but the water that is working its way to the surface at the stop sign will have more traffic on it and will continue to be a problem. (Discussion on ways to address this issue, budget limits are a factor).
Crews have been cleaning the gutters on the Old Scenic Highway from Vista House to Ainsworth.
Brush cutting will be done as time and resources allow. For those who believe their property runs to the fog line, they may be surprised when the brush is cut.
Historic Columbia River Highway Advisory Committee will be meeting on December 7th from 10-2. It will be a hybrid meeting, location to be determined.
Congestion mitigation for the upcoming year will look similar to this year with a flagger and the parking lot managed by the lessee. (A brief power point presentation was given on the most recent data).
The award will be going out on the Viaduct repair. The East bound Viaduct will be closed Fall 25-Spring 26 with the West bound closed Fall 24-Spring 25.
https://www.oregon.gov/odot/projects/pages/project-details.aspx?project=17479McCord Creek Bridge is scheduled to begin replacement Fall of 2025 and will have extended crossover closures onto I-84. There will be a number of days with full closure of I-84, but that will be a couple of years out.
https://www.oregon.gov/odot/projects/pages/project-details.aspx?project=21766ODOT is submitting for a 51 million dollar grant to complete the final portion of the Historic State Highway Trail, finishing the 73 miles of trail going from Troutdale to The Dalles. This last segment is expensive as portions will need to be tunneled under the highway, and viaducts will need to be built coming out of the tunnel.
Forest Service: The season has ended and the restrooms and campgrounds are being closed for the winter. For the first time the Forest Service has hired two winter seasonal workers so you will see hosts at two of the FS sites. You will see work being done at the Sandy River Delta, both in the parking lot with striping and along the trails. Thank you to the Corbett Fire Department for all the help you have given this year, it is greatly appreciated.
Mt Hood Community College: The college had their accreditation visit last week, something that is done every five to seven years, and it went very well. The report will show they have a very good support system for students, and solid strategic planning, while offering some suggestions in the instructional area. MHCC was noted as a College that Cares, based on interviews with students, who mentioned how welcoming and helpful the staff is, including a young student that talked about how she was ready to quit when one member of the staff stepped up and assisted her in getting her financial packet and kept her in class.
The college is also remodeling the Pony Soldier to add 75 units of student housing at affordable costs, that is on schedule to open next Spring.
You can learn more about this development at the Gresham Chamber lunch on November 14.
https://business.greshamchamber.org/events/details/learn-at-lunch-11136?calendarMonth=2023-11-01Oregon Historical Society Levy: this monitors how the levy money is spent and everyone was very impressed with the tour that was taken of the different societies. They are looking for new members to join the board, contact Chair Vega-Pederson's office if you're interested.
NEMCCA: We will be hosting a public meeting with Senator Bonham, Representative Helfrich and Office of the Governor's Regional Solutions Director Amelia Porterfield on November 16 from 6:30 to 8pm at the Corbett Fire Hall. Chair Vega-Pederson has been invited and we will update the information when her schedule is known.
The Christmas Tree Lighting will be December 2 from 5-8 with the tree turned on at 5:15. Weather permitting there will be a bonfire, if not we'll have a BBQ for marshmallows. Games will be offered for the children, the Corbett Fire Christmas Chicken will be assisting with the games, and snacks and drinks will be provided. (Donations gladly accepted!)
