This is our second bi-weekly update via the E-current and directly to our contact list.  We hope you are finding them useful and informative.

The Portland Parks & Recreation website – www.portlandparks.org is also the place to go for accurate and up to date information on the progress of the project.  We know that construction is inconvenient, messy, and sometimes dangerous, but by providing accurate and timely information, we hope that we can at least let you know what to expect.  Thanks in advance for your patience!

Update – April 30, 2012
We continue to work with the contractor to finalize the construction details.  This is quite an undertaking for a project of this scope and the devil is truly in the details.

While the permits were submitted some time ago, we continue to work through details with the Army Corp of Engineers and Bureau of Development Services to provide additional information and clarification on the project.  We anticipate receiving the permits in June. Once the permits are in-hand, we can work with the contractor to begin staging.

We continue to closely monitor the Willamette’s water level.  It is essential that the water level be within a specific range to allow us to begin the riverbank work.  Water levels depend on a number of factors (all of which we have no control over) which include:  rainfall, upstream dam releases, temperatures, and tides.  Working with a team from a variety of disciplines, we are watching and hoping to predict when the level will be low enough to begin work.  This is an inexact science.  And, on other topics…

Project staff met with Mark from Old House Dahlias to make sure the farm and the construction projects were not in conflict.  AND – the osprey are back!  Happily remodeling their cozy and familiar home…

Next Update – More information on the construction schedule and how it will affect residents and businesses.  And finally – We are planning to have a public meeting to give everyone a chance to talk face to face and ask questions.  That meeting is planned for May 22,  6:00 pm – 7:00 pm, location to be determined.

Please let me know if you have any questions, Elizabeth Kennedy-Wong, 503-823-5113 or Elizabeth.kennedy-wong@portlandoregon.gov.

Get some fresh air and join your neighbors in a spring cleaning of the district on Saturday, April 21.  The cleanup will include street and sidewalk pickup, riverbank pickup, Community Garden weeding, mulch spreading and cleanup,  as well as vacant lot cleanup.  Munch on pastries provided by Zidell and  wash it down with coffee courtesy of Rilassi Coffeehouse & Tea.

Saturday, April 21, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Meriwether East Amenities Room
0836 SW Curry Street, Portland, OR Map It

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Get involved in the wild and green places in your neighborhood.  April’s meeting will include a discussion of Greenway budget and finance, Greenway phasing and permits, Greenway fencing, need for volunteers for new temporary trail, and an osprey update.

Tuesday, April 17, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Mirabella Portland, Park View Room
3550 SW Bond Ave, Portland, OR Map It

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

As you may know, cash on hand has always been less than the total cost of the South Waterfront Greenway project. For the past year, Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) has been working with potential funders to bridge that gap. In this economy, they were unfortunately not successful.  PP&R has communicated this shortfall to their stakeholders and will continue to work hard to identify funds to fill this gap.

PP&R Director Mike Abbaté has made the decision to build the project in phases. The riverward improvements (Phase 1) will be built this year, and the rest of the improvements as funding allows, hopefully the following construction season. No features of the project are expected to be changed or eliminated as a result of the phasing.

Portland Parks & Recreation understands the eagerness the neighbors have in anticipating the new park. PP&R is contractually obligated to begin construction on Phase 1 this year due to agreements with TriMet related to their bridge project.  The schedule for installation of the osprey platforms at the south and north ends of the site is unaffected.  The plan is to mobilize for Phase 1 around May or June and beginning construction July 1, the start of the in-water work window.

The ultimate goal is to completely and successfully complete the South Waterfront Central Greenway project in full, as promised, and PP&R intends to do that.

Please check www.portlandparks.org and enter ‘greenway’ in the search box for project and construction updates.

For more information, contact Liz Moorhead, 503-823-5883.

Have you noticed the recent circle display behavior of the Great Blue Herons on Ross Island?  The birds should be settled in their nests by early March, when courtship behavior will start on the nest from early March to about March 20.  Spotting scopes will be set up on the riverfront.  For information or if you can volunteer to set up a spotting scope on March 10, 11, 16, or 17, contact Carol Oatis at cotis@earthlink.net. 

Saturday and Sunday, March 10 – 11, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Friday and Saturday, March 16 – 17, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
South Waterfront Greenway, Portland, OR Map It

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

We’ll be in the garden from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm (and maybe longer!) getting ready for spring. Come help us clean up the borders, plant a few early spring flowers, and prepare beds for the growing season.

Contact Geoff Granum, Community Garden Manager, at grow@swfcg.org for information.

Saturday, March 10, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
South Waterfront Community Garden
in the block south of Atwater Place, Portland, OR Map It
www.swfcg.org

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Wondering why you have to pay fees to join the South Waterfront Dog Club?  Fees to participate in the club go toward paying the annual liability insurance and for the maintenance and upkeep of the Dog Club.  Though the land is generously donated to the club for temporary use by a private landowner at no cost, to establish the Dog Club, local businesses, buildings, and individuals raised over $15,000 to install fencing and a locked gate. The club is not a city-managed off-leash dog park and membership is available only to South Waterfront residents.

All members renew once yearly in July.  Participation dues for 2012 are $5/month until July 2012, plus a $65 one-time new-member initiation fee.  For example, if you join in January 2012, the payment for 6 months (January through June) is $30 plus the $65 initiation fee – a total of $95.

To join, fill out the rules and regulations form found in the box outside the gate.  Keep a copy for yourself and provide a copy of your local dog license (Marion, Multnomah, or Lane County) and a photo of your dog.  Make out a check payable to SWDC and drop off at Meriwether East concierge desk, or mail to Attn: Carol L. Otis, SWDC, 0836 SW Curry St. #1400, Portland, Oregon 97239.  The gate code will be sent to you via return email.  Then you are ready to have fun in the South Waterfront Dog Club!

Questions, comments, ideas:

Carol L. Otis, Secretary SWDC
cotis@earthlink.net

As in the letter from Portland Parks & Recreation, they are moving forward with the siting of a platform for the osprey at the north end of the greenway.  Many organizations and individuals contributed much time and effort to make this happy outcome possible.

The osprey platform pole is settled on private land for this year during greenway construction, thanks to the generosity of Williams & Dame Development Corporation (owner of the land) and Hoffman Construction (who moved the platform), as well as the South Waterfront Dog Club (current owner of the platform) and South Waterfront Nature & Greenspaces Committee, which has persistently advocated for the osprey along with others in the community.

We look forward to welcoming back the osprey from its migration to Mexico in late March.

After years of planning, permitting, negotiating, and discussing – we are really going to build this.  Construction for the Greenway is scheduled to begin in July 2012.  Residents can expect to see fences go up and construction staging to begin sometime in June.  Portland Parks & Recreation will provide regular updates to everyone who lives, works, and plays in this community.  Construction will come with impacts, but the end result will be something that delivers on the promise made to this community – a greenway that balances the needs of the nature around us and provides us with an opportunity to recreate and relax.

We are pleased to share with you, that working with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Bureau of Environmental Services, and the Audubon Society, we have identified what we believe to be a solid resolution to the nesting needs of the Osprey.  We are moving forward with the siting of a platform between high water and the grassy area at the north end of the greenway.

Please check into www.portlandparks.org for project and construction updates.

For more information, contact Liz Moorhead, 503-823-5883.

Join us as we meet at South Waterfront Community Relations (address below) and go on an adventure to the Portland Japanese Garden.  We will combine streetcar, MAX, and trail walking to reach the garden, then go on a self-guided tour of our world famous Japanese garden.

The walk from Washington Park Max Station to the Portland Japanese Garden is approximately 2.4 miles round trip in length and includes steep and potentially muddy terrain.  Please wear sturdy shoes, dress in layers, and bring drinking water.

**Please RSVP to Heather Bayles at 503-972-3289 or heather@southwaterfront.com.

If you would like updates about walks, please join the South Waterfront Walks There Google Group at: http://groups.google.com/group/swfwalksthere.

Tuesday, January 17, 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Meet at South Waterfront Community Relations
Atwater Place, Unit 115
0841 SW Gaines Street, Portland, OR Map It

WALK IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC; STREETCAR FARE WILL BE COVERED; MAX FARE IS $1 HONORED CITIZEN/$2.10 ADULT; JAPANESE GARDEN ADMISSION IS $7.75 HONORED CITIZEN/$9.50 ADULT.