Thanks Victoria Purvine of NEMCCA for putting these notes together!
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NEMCCA
Safety Notes
December 6, 2023
Historical Society: December 12 will be the annual potluck starting at 6:30. This will be at the fire department and ham will be provided. A short board meeting will be held at 6.
Citizens Patrol: The Toy Drive a couple weeks ago was a great success. The crew collected over 1,200 toys at Fred Meyer, Kohls and Walmart locations. Toys will be distributed at the Wood Village Baptist Church off Arata road on Sunday, December 10 from 9-12. If you are interested in helping with any of these events please reach out to one of the CP members.
Flagging at the school is going well, getting well drenched this past week.
PSA: There are a lot of GHOST CARS out in the morning. These cars can't be seen by others until they put on their brakes.
(Discussion: When are headlights required? Anytime between sunset and sunrise. When it's raining, snowing, sleeting or hailing -think wipers. Any time when visibility less than 500 feet. Also, when you have your running lights on these are only for the front of the car, nothing is showing on the back end. Please, for safety of all, use your lights.)
Corbett Fire: The volunteers are busy wrapping gifts for the Christmas Chicken to distribute to two local families. The Christmas Chicken will be out doing the Fill the Boot to help make this happen so if you see the Chicken, any help is appreciated.
There is a Holiday Event at the Grange on Saturday, Dec 9, and the Fire Engine will be taking Santa to the Grange, leaving the station around 11 a.m.
The Fire Department partnered with NEMCCA for the Tree Lighting and Bonfire on the 2nd. It was a very good turn out and we look forward to doing it again next year.
The new water tender may be with us earlier than expected. Originally it wasn't planned on arriving before Spring, but now it looks like we may see it by mid-January. The tender is part of a grant given by the Fire Marshal's Office and will be white with the Corbett Fire information on it, as will the OSF Marshal insignia. It will be housed at the new building in Springdale once that is completed.
(Discussion: There will be a new building in Springdale that will be rated for earthquake, and a new building Corbett. Most of the rigs will go to the new building, and a couple of the bays in the existing building will be closed off for other uses. Pictures of the buildings were shared)
The department has been notified from Ford that they will be starting to build the new rescue unit after the first of the year.
Its been pretty quiet on calls.
Corbett Water District: The District will be closed during the week of Christmas.
The field crew will begin new work hours, working Monday through Thursday from 7:30 to 5:00, then every other Friday they will also be working. This is being done to cut down on overtime.
The CWD office will be closed on December 12 in the afternoon as everyone will be taking a CPR class, taught by Duane Redfield.
There will be a public meeting on January 4 regarding the Watershed Risk Plan. Pizza will be provided.
The crew has been busy replacing water service lines, there have been several broken ones lately and they are staying busy. The PowerMull has been resurrected to assist with the work.
If you were to compare the crew today with the one from two years ago, there would only be one person still here. Right now the crew is almost all female, (one male) and its working out great.
Fall 2024 the EPA is requiring an inventory of all lines regarding lead components. There may be an option to show a portion of the lines based on total inventory, but there will be an ask to homeowners for line information.
ODOT: The next advisory committee meeting for the Historic Highway will be December 7 at the Sheriff's Office in Troutdale off Kendall.
The Multnomah Falls Viaduct contract was awarded on November 11 and work is expected to start after the first of the year.
There will be a grand opening for the completed Mitchell Point Tunnel, time and date to be determined.
The 2024 Traffic Mitigation plan at Multnomah Falls is in discussion. There is no final plan right now, but expect to see permits being required in the I-84 parking lot, a flagger at the cross walk, and the private owner across from the lodge will be doing active management on their property.
(Discussion: The are 22 trains a day that go through the Gorge, and that means in front of the Lodge too. With the flooding and limits on what can be done regarding permanent walls, there are barricades in place to keep people safe. Don't go around barricades. Don't climb over barricades. DO keep on the paths laid out for you to travel, it's for your safety, vehicle safety and the safety of those working in the area.)
ODOT will be getting 19 million Statewide to help with the current shortfall, but don't expect to see any changes in the recently estimated level of services. Equipment has been sold, staff has been reduced and will need to be hired and trained, and that can be done immediately. The money may not make a difference for this Winter season.
Geologist will be out surveying the area of the Old Highway that continues to drop just passed Larch Mountain Road.
(Discussion: Is it safe for big trucks to go over, specifically fire engines? This is what the geologist will be determining. There is an on-going issue with the road sinking, and then when the paving and repairs are done the weight increases, which adds to the sinking, and it becomes a cycle. There is discussion of a viaduct being put in, and when the road was originally built there was a bridge in that location but with the angle of the hill and the make up of the hill drilling can be difficult and the bridge did not survive. This is an issue ODOT has to address in any repair at this time. Ultimately the repair is expected to cost upwards of ten million, so for now the fix and repair approach is being used as long as it is safe. Closing that road and sending people up over Columbia until a repair can be done would take a collaboration with the State and County.)
Forest Service: Bike parking at Multnomah Falls is being looked at, one permit has been turned in to the County from the Dodson area. The trail crews are addressing the landslides that have been happening with the heavy rains. Landslides in the burn areas are expected to be an issue for the next twenty years. (Landslides or damage, such as trees down across the trails, slough of trail, wash out, etc.)
Winter Seasonal Workers have been brought on, this is a first for the Forest Service and has been something that has been needed as a lot of the trail repair needs done during the winter months. There are two temporaries now and they are expected to stay until April when the Summer Seasonal Workers start.
There is a new element being looked at when it comes to the Forest Service. The HVRA is an acronym for Highly Valued Resource Asset and is being used to prioritize resources during a fire or other major event. Where does the FS put their resources to protect these assets based on available staff and equipment.
A larger effort will be going in to maintaining the trails at Thousand Acres. Some of the trails need to be elevated for safety and usage and the Forest Service will be engaging with Friends of the Sandy River Delta regarding the trails.
There are several jobs available with the Forest Service at this time:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/crgnsa/about-forest/jobs/?cid=fseprd522110(Discussion: Pay station on Larch. This one only takes cash, and there were several people at the parking lot recently that only had debit cards. What is the plan to make sure they are getting their parking permits accessible to everyone in a world where not everyone carries cash, or only carries larger bills? Putting up a scan code was mentioned but further discussion brought up that scammers have been putting up their own codes and then taking the money that people believe they are paying to the providing agency. In addition, a caution was made regarding buying gift cards. Make Sure the code bar hasn't been scratched off because once you put money on that card the scammer gets it directly into their account and the person you are gifting the card to received nothing.)
MultCo Roads: All apprentices are on board. They have started interviewing for a Vegetation Specialist and hope to have the position filled by the end of the month.
Larch has been closed for the year. (Brief discussion- the post in the center of the road has always been there. They take it out during the summer season but this year they had to leave it for the paving project.)
They have entered budget season for next year and part of the discussion is more paving work in the rural areas. Not overlays, but real paving. They know its an issue out here and are looking at ways to address the problems.
The mower is currently down but will be back up soon and they will be back out mowing weather permitting. They have been working first where they have received the most comments of concern. Will get to the rest as they can.
Haines road has a mess going on. It appears that a company is putting in utilities and have been in the ditch, filling it in and making the water and mud run across the road. This situation is being turned in to the person who issues the permits for work in the road right of way and they should be out next week to investigate.
MCSO: Working with the folks at the bottom of Corbett Hill. They are in touch with the HOPE team.
Information shared on headlight usage. (posted above)
MCSO is ticketing those who continue to park in the No Parking Zones.
(Discussion: What about people who park on private property, or those who put up signs saying no parking but its on a fence along the road? How do you know where the ROW is? The County or State (depending on the road) has a 40 or 50 feet Right of Way, and the road does not fall dead center of that right of way. Don't take a measurement from the center line and think you're in the clear, you may be on someone's property, or someone's property may be in the ROW. If you go to MultCo Sail you can find a property and take a measurement across the ROW and then click on the aerial and get a fairly accurate idea of where the property line is located. If you need a very specific idea you need to bring in a surveyor. Some roads in the County are completely out of the ROW, for instance, Donahue on Larch is nowhere close to the designated area. CWD mentioned water meters are supposed to be in the ROW as this came up during the discussion.)
NEMCCA: Litter Patrols are continuing along Corbett Hill and Chamberlain. Jack Garrison is recruiting for additional help to expand the clean up, contact him if you are interested.
The Tree Lighting and Bonfire was December 2nd and while the bonfire did not take off as desired (and despite the best efforts of all involved) everyone had a good time. There will be a return to collecting pallets for fire starter for next year. Video at:
https://www.facebook.com/100070147935101/videos/1425511428040190The public meeting with Senator Bonham, RSD Amelia Porterfield and Policy Advisor for the Chair Hayden Miller was well attended, had a lot of questions and comments, and answers are coming in from various agencies and are being posted on the NEMCCA facebook page.
NEMCCA and the Fire Department are doing a PSA regarding DUIIs, please stay safe this holiday season.
OPRD: We are fully into winter operations and moving forward with projects.
Latourell Trail bridges are almost complete. Park will open in mid-December till early January. Then close again for the second phase of putting in steps.
Women’s Forum project has been paused but some lot line work will continue.
No more to report on Dabney spring. Still at same point.
