Buckman Community Association

BCA Board Minutes 04/01/04

BCA Board Minutes 04/01/04

In attendance were BCA Board Members: Lily Witham, M’Lou Christ, Bethany Pratt, Don MacGillvray, Donna Milrany, Anne Hughes, Susan Lindsay, and Jack Maynard, and Delores Dee, Buckman resident

Minutes Approved- M’Lou Christ moved to approve the minutes from the general meeting on 3/11/04, with a second by Donna Milrany and a unanimous vote by the board.

Citizen’s Involvement Task Force- Steve Hoyt of Southeast Uplift (SEUL) stopped in to introduce himself to the board and give an update on the Citizen’s Involvement Task Force, which will convene this fall. Steve also gave us an update on the Woodstock Community Center, which will not close as planned, but stay open for another year.

Developer’s Summit- Donna Milrany, M’Lou Christ and Don MacGillvray all attended the Developer’s Summit held on Saturday March 27th at the Portland Mennonite Church. This summit was put together by SEUL and brought together contracts, architects, planners, sustainable housing experts, etc. to discuss sustainable housing issues.

Home Depot/The Burnside Plan- Susan Lindsay brought the board up to date on the rumour circulating that a Home Depot store may be built at the site of the former Baloney Joe’s and the former gas station lot on the NW corner of SE Grand and E. Burnside. It is not a rumour, as the PDC does want to place a Home depot there, in conjunction with re-vamping the Sandy/Burnside/12th intersection. Susan is on the Urban Renewal Advisory Council (URAC), which has been meeting regularly for over a year to discuss the future of the Central Eastside Business district.

“Portland Process”- Susan Lindsay told the group she had received a phone message from Wade Nkrumah of the Oregonian. Wade is working on an article about Portland Process and wanted to hear opinions about how process works in Portland. Don MacGillvray gave the board a brief history of various bureaus in Portland and explained the history of public process (and it’s decline) in Portland. The general consensus of long-time Portland residents was that public process has steadily declined during the regime of Mayor Katz.

Mural Project- Lily Witham gave an update on the process to replace the mural on the south side of the Plaid Pantry at SE 12th & Morrison, which has been damaged with graffiti. Lily spoke with Kelly at Plaid Pantry, who said Plaid Pantry is willing to paint over the existing mural. Plaid Pantry would like one week’s notice to paint over the rest of the mural and prepare the surface for the new mural. After the mural is completed Plaid Pantry will paint a protective sealer to protect the new mural from damage by graffiti and which also makes graffiti easier to remove. Laura Jaeger from Central Catholic High had suggested that we get the art students at CCHS to paint the mural. There was some discussion on how to come up with a subject for the new mural and the group decided to ask the art teacher at CCHS, John McMath to attend the general meeting on April 8th, in hopes that his students can come up with some ideas for the new mural.

Environmental Committee- M’Lou brought up her wish for an environmental committee in Buckman. She would like to lobby the city on behalf of sustainability, and create a survey of existing older trees in Buckman. Jack Maynard volunteered to help with the survey, and both Lily Witham and Donna Milrany expressed interest in joining the committee.

Lone Fir Task Force- The first meeting of the Lone Fir Task Force will be held on Monday April 5th at 5PM. The task force was formed to help guide the county in deciding what should happen to the property where the empty County Building sits at the corner of Lone Fir Cemetery. Susan Lindsay represents the BCA on the Task Force.

Homelessness Working Group- Don MacGillvray gave an update on the Homelessness Working Group, which plans to give a presentation at all neighbourhood association meetings in the city, (and anywhere else interest is shown.)

Submitted by Lily Witham.