Hector Campbell Neighborhood Association

Spring is finally here! Please join us at Homewood Park for planting, weeding and mulching.

Light Rail Stations in Downtown Milwaukie

With Milwaukie staff beginning to formulate its recommendation for downtown station locations, staff is scheduling another meeting for Monday, April 28th, in the Milwaukie High School Commons at 6 p.m. to get a better sense of which locations residents prefer.

More than 75 residents attended a meeting at the High School in March and staff gathered a lot of good input, but staff is hoping to hear more from the community about preferences between the potential stations located where the alignment intersects Harrison Street, Monroe Street, Washington Street and Lake Road. Staff is also interested in hearing more on the question of “one downtown station or two.”

This will be the last public meeting residents will have the opportunity to talk with staff about station locations before it presents a recommendation to City Council. New materials are being prepared for the April 28th meeting to help people visualize how these stations would sit along the alignment near the locations noted above. The meeting will have a “listening post” format where staff will try to answer simple questions, but will mostly be taking notes and listening. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. and will last long enough to provide everyone an opportunity to speak.

Contact Information: , Information Coordinator: 503.786.7503

Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Citizen Advisory Committee Meeting
When: Thursday, April 24
Time: 6-8pm
Where: SMILE Station, 8210 SE 13th Avenue, Portland

If you have any questions or concerns please contact: , Administrative Specialist, Metro Planning 503-797-1756

The city of Milwaukie has just updated/added to thier list of light rail questions and answers.

When completed, the Trolley Trail will connect neighborhoods, schools, parks, retirement communities and business districts between Milwaukie and Gladstone and complete a missing link in Metro's regional trail system.

Saturday, April 19th
9am to 3pm at Seth Lewelling Environmental Magnet School
5325 SE Logus Road, Milwaukie

Hardy, native plants supplied by Bosky Dell Native Nursery. Master Gardeners will be on hand to answer questions and offer gardening advice. The sale will be held in the multi-purpose room.

Proceeds benefit the 4H wildlife steward project at Seth Lewelling Environmental Magnet School.

As a city councilor, I’d like to hear from residents about what the council should do to protect the parts of the town that need preserving and to improve the parts that need to be made better. We hear a lot from the same people. That’s a good thing, but we also need to hear from people who don’t often take the time to tell us their views. I’m interested in hearing views on whatever residents think I should know about: parks, the library, downtown development, transportation, parking--whatever. The biggest decision we on the council have ahead of us is what recommendation to make to Metro about light rail: Whether we’d like light rail, and if so, where we’d like it. The best way to give me your thoughts is to write to me at or . You can also call me on my cell phone (503-816-5192), although I often have the phone off during the day.
Greg

So far, so good when it comes to WES-led talks regarding a regional solution to
our growing wastewater treatment dilemma. Talks have been better than civil
and, I believe, productive as leaders from Happy Valley, Lake O., West Linn, Damascus, Oregon City, Milwaukie, CCSD#1, Gladstone, and even Oak Lodge learn enough information at each meeting about the pluses of consolidation to justify attending the next week. That's how it's set
up: the meeting agenda is sent out ahead of time; we discuss it & receive a more detailed description at the meeting; comments from 'audience' members in attendance are heard toward the end; then we answer as a group the question of whether coming together again is
worth the trouble. Always, the answer is "yes", and we make plans to attend the next week . . .

All representatives at these meetings concur that a regional approach to sewage treatment MAY be in the best interest of the different cities / unincorporated areas represented. CERTAINLY a few locations will really be in financial trouble if they are left to "go it alone"
when it comes to wastewater treatment; ironically, this is especially true for CCSD #1.

Other areas have interests beyond the financial. Both West Linn and Oregon City, for example, cite environmental concerns among their greatest interests. They want a better, cleaner plant than the one they have now, even if consolidation does not necessarily save them money in the short-term. Oak Lodge has continued interest in regional developments, but remains skeptical about whether or not their desire for local control can be
met with a regional approach. It remains to be seen whether the financial blockades preventing Oak Lodge from actually implementing their favored master plan are enough incentive to keep them at the table. For their sake, I hope so.

As for the sake of the rest of the county, I am told that with the magnitude of such a large consolidation project, neither Oak Lodge nor Lake Oswego are needed in order to achieve a regional wastewater solution (meaning, their participation or lack thereof will not
significantly impact rates for the rest of us).
Still, I'm all for efficiency, and it would be nice to give waterfront space
back to these areas if they choose to join in the fun.

So we come to the table each Thursday in April (or that's the plan so far).
I've attached the meeting packet for this coming Thursday. Of particular interest in THIS packet are the "wish lists" for each represented community.
These will be key in the equity and governance discussions we have left. (We saved the tough stuff for last.) Wish this committee bon chance as we engage in what will likely be some heated conversations; your future rates and much, much more depend on our success.

Charmaine Coleman

Meetings are planned on Thursday evenings from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at the Clackamas County Sunnybrook Service Center (unless otherwise indicated). Please check the calendar to confirm the next meeting and location.
Past meetings are audio recorded and streamed online. Meeting recordings, agenda and other supporting documents can be found here.