MEETING NOTES
GREEN RIBBON COMMITTEE LISTENING POST
Wednesday, November 20, 2001
Midland Library Community Room
Councilors Present: David Bragdon ( Presiding Officer), Carl Hosticka
Green Ribbon Committee Members Present: Walt Hitchcock (Chair), Mayor Charlotte Lehan, ?
Staff Present: John Donovan, Kim Bardes, Charlie Ciecko, Ron Klein, Nancy Chase ?
Metro Presiding Officer David Bragdon called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
1. Registration/Open House
2. Welcome/Introductions
Mayor Charlotte Lehan, Mayor of Wilsonville, welcomed everyone and introduced Presiding Officer David Bragdon and Councilor Hosticka.
3. Green Ribbon Committee Draft Recommendations and Site Review
Mayor Lehan spoke of the charge and mission of the committee, and the history of the green spaces program. She talked about the 15 sites the committee had decided to recommend to the council, and then spoke in depth about the Wilsonville Tract site, which was located next to the primary school where the meeting was held. She briefly discussed the finances involved in the project, and mentioned the solid waste excise tax that the committee was recommending in order to pay for the project. She added that the total package was about $60 million. The committee had recommended a five-year plan that would be referred to the voters or a ten-year plan authorized by Metro Council without referral as funding mechanisms.
Ron Klein, Public Affairs Specialist, presented slides showing the top four parks and trails sites recommended by the committee. He noted that the Fanno Creek Trail site would be ready for trail construction in Portland’s West Hills. He said there was strong local support for the second trail project, 5.2 miles of the Gresham to Fairview Trail. The third trail project was the Springwater Trail, and the fourth trail was the Beaverton Powerline Trail, extending from Forest Park to Scholls Ferry Road. Mr. Klein introduced the four park sites beginning with Mt. Talbert. He reported on the Wilsonville Tract site and its valuable fish and wildlife habitat, and Metro’s Smith and Bybee Lakes sites at nearly 2000 acres of fresh water wetland, in north Portland. He talked about Cooper Mountain, located about 3 miles from downtown Beaverton. He noted that Metro had assembled 256 acres in Washington County. He talked about additional sites recommended by the committee.
4. Question and Answer/Public Comment
Dick Shook, Friends of Kellogg/Mt. Scott Creek Watershed, thanked Metro for establishing the Green Ribbon Committee, he felt that many fine sites had been saved from development for use by citizens. He felt that it been disappointing that the lack of funding had prevented the development of the necessary facilities to open use of the sites to the public. He said that the development of the Green Ribbon Committee and their recommendations would go a long way towards reversing this problem. He said his favorite site from the list of 15 was the Mt. Talbert site, and he urged the committee to keep Mt. Talbert in the forefront of those sites listed for improvement. He said that a few months ago he would have encouraged the committee to proceed with the five-year plan, but due to current economic constraints and the high rate of unemployment, he suggested that perhaps the ten-year plan was best.
Bob Carlson, West Linn and Wilsonville Public Schools/CREST, said he would be the director of Crest Learning center, once construction on the building was completed. Students from 12 local schools would be using the educational center, and they hoped to have access to the site next to the primary school. He said that kids already monitor the wetlands locally and they want to add the Wilsonville Tract site to that project. Other projects that students were considering included studying and researching blue birds, and removing invasive species. He said that they were excited about the possibility of adding the site to the educational program and partnering with the City of Wilsonville and Metro in order to make that happen. He asked the students to come up and give testimony.
Jim Hartman, Teacher at West Linn High School, said that he had been looking at the Crest Center's educational potential for a long time, and with hopes that Metro would acquire the Wilsonville Tract. He said that he had several students that would like to speak to their vision for utilizing that space, and connecting it to the crest center as a research, monitoring, and restoration facility. He agreed with Mr. Klein's comment that people want to have access to nature and, from his perspective as an environmental science teacher that's what makes people fall in love with it and want to protect it. He felt that getting kids involved in restoration would teach them the value of the environment, and that they would carry those values into adulthood, which would ensure protection of the environment for later generations as well.
Ric Shaw, student, had a senior project on riparian habitat to do. He felt that it would be beneficial to have the opportunity to do restoration on the Wilsonville Tract site, with the help of younger students. He urged support of opening the site for all students.
Shaina Sullivan, student, said that Jane Goodall had visited her school, and she had promised Ms. Goodall that she would establish the Roots and Shoots project in her school. Shaina felt that the site would be perfect to teach younger students the value of the environment so that they could start young on making a difference. She felt that bringing the community into the restoration and protection of the environment was important, and suggested bird box building and active involvement in restoration as a good starting point. She said that many young people offered their support for the Crest center, and she urged that Wilsonville Tract be opened for her fellow students and the community at large.
Marissa Daniels, student, said she also met Jane Goodall, and that she was interested in stream habitat. She hoped she would be able to teach other people what she knew about streams, and how they worked.
Reyna Salinas, student, wanted to see the community come together at the Crest Center in order to do volunteer projects related to composting, recycling, and a community garden.
Amy Enchelmeyer, student, said that she was ignorant of environmental issues until she came to the area and took Mr. Hartman's class. She felt that the Crest Center and the Wilsonville Tract offered kids the opportunity to become environmentally involved at a young age, and they would therefore do more with and about the environment when they grow up.
Spencer Lodge, student, was interested in organic vegetable growing. He felt that it was important to teach kids that they do not need to use chemicals in order to grow vegetables. He also supported the idea of teaching these methods to younger students for future benefits.
Jessica Ballentine and Alexandra Landry, students, had been monitoring the soil, water, plants and animals at Mary Field Park. They wanted to be able to do the same type of studies at the Wilsonville Tract site so that they could learn more about the wetlands. They talked about the interesting things they had already learned due to their environmental studies and explorations. They supported Wilsonville Tract being opened for the public.
Debra Iguchi, Friends of Goal 5, said she was grateful for Metro acquiring the sites. She supported the Wilsonville Tract being opened, and she talked about specific areas that would need protection on the site. She said that there had been excellent turnout at the Metro sponsored work parties, and she anticipated that it would continue. Speaking for herself, she said the site should fit into the Wilsonville Planning Commission's regional plans. She encouraged continued funds for maintenance and site acquisition.
Presiding Officer Bragdon, talked about the progress of the project and the many visits he, Councilor Hosticka, and Mayor Lehan had made to the site.
Brianne Foster, student, said she was involved in the Student Watershed Research Project, and they had been studying two sites in the Wilsonville area for the past 6-7 years, and one of them was part of the Wilsonville Tract. They supported Wilsonville Tract being opened so that they could continue, and broaden, their research. They were concerned about protection of the site and streams when that area was opened.
Councilor Hosticka agreed that informal use of the site could cause destruction, and he wanted her to know that Metro would take that into consideration.
Margo Fervia, Tualatin Riverkeepers, supported the acquisition of more sites, and opening access to the public. She said that she supported the 5-10 mile access points. She said that as a staff member of the Tualatin Riverkeepers, she got a lot of calls regarding the need for more access points. She felt that with more people on the river, awareness of water quality issues, salmon and salmon habitat would increase. She felt that grouping the three sites together was a great idea, especially including camping in the package.
Joy Marzoff, citizen, said that many people in her neighborhood were interested in the Wilsonville Tract site being opened and developed for public use.
Councilor Hosticka said that he was not a member of the Green Ribbon Committee, but that he appreciated all their work because he strongly supported the public's right to access to the environment.
Walt Hitchcock, Green Ribbon Committee Chair, summarized the Green Ribbon Committee's desire to see trails in every neighborhood, where citizens could recreate with friends and family. He envisioned this without the use of roads. He felt that in 50-60 years we could have a connecting trail throughout the region.
Mayor Lehan thanked the group for coming. She spoke to the use of the site, and the benefits of opening the site to the public and community. She also spoke to making proper trails for protection of the site. She said that the tract was the southern portion of a future greenway program that would go all the way up to the federal refuge north of 99.
There being no further testimony, Presiding Officer Bragdon adjourned the meeting at 6:50 p.m. and invited the public to review the maps of the selected sites, and to speak individually with the members of the committee and council.
Prepared by
Kim Bardes
Outreach Assistant