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Groundwater 101
Curious about where your drinking water comes from? Join the Columbia Slough Watershed Council and the Portland Water Bureau for Groundwater 101 - a free educational workshop that will teach you the basics of how groundwater works, what role it plays in our drinking water system, and what needs to be done to protect this important resource. This workshop is casual, in a classroom-style setting with groundwater experts. Light refreshments will be provided. Short tour included. Space is limited. Registration is required.
Groundwater is a hidden resource that supplies drinking water to 840,000 people in the Portland Metro Area. Groundwater is the sole drinking water source for Fairview and other communities, and is also a vital secondary drinking water source for communities like Portland and Gresham that rely primarily on surface water from the Bull Run River. Join the Council and the Water Bureau at Groundwater 101 to learn about this large underground treasure.
The workshop will be held on Saturday, November 8, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the NECA/IBEW Electrical Training Center, 16021 N.E. Airport Way. To register, contact Sarah Murphy at 503-281-1132 or email info@columbiaslough.org.
Building code appeals seminar
Lunch and Learn is a Bureau of Development Services, or BDS, community education program, held during the lunch hour. Each session explores current development topics in an informal format. The presentation/discussion topic for November will address the building code appeals process. The appeal process deals specifically with issues related to the various construction codes in effect in the City and provides a process to review proposals for use of alternate methods and materials of construction.
This public education, discussion, and feedback session is entitled Understanding and Using the Building Code Appeal Process and will include:
• What is a Building Code Appeal? When or Why Would I Need One?
• Overview of Portland’s Administrative Building Code Appeal Process
• What Do I Need to Know to File a Successful Building Code Appeal?
• Filing a Building Code Appeal Online, a New BDS Website Feature
• Questions and Answers with BDS Building Code Appeal Experts
All are welcome to attend this free event on Friday, November 14 from Noon to 1:30 p.m. in the 1900 S.W. 4th Ave. Building, Second Floor Conference Room 2500-A. Bring your lunch. No reservation is required.
This information and a complete library of past presentations are now available on the website at www.bds.ci.portland.or.us. Click on the link: “Lunch & Learn Seminars” for more information or contact Martha Shonya 503-823-7822
Neighborhood summit
Randy Leonard, Commissioner in charge of the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, announced the fourth annual “Neighborhood Association Summit” to be held on Saturday, November 15. Several hundred neighborhood leaders and community activists are expected to attend. This year’s theme, “Organizing Our Future Together”, calls on participants to join with other neighborhood association and community members in setting priorities and action steps to build a stronger and more vibrant neighborhood and public involvement system in the City of Portland.
The Summit will be on Saturday, November 15 at the Portland Conference Center, 300 N.E. Multnomah St. near Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Registration begins at 8 a.m. The conference will end at 3 p.m. This is a free event.
The goal of this year’s Summit will be to identify common priorities and action steps the seven district coalitions and neighborhood offices can work together on. Participants will focus on coming up with a plan for what an ideal Neighborhood Association and public involvement system would look like. It will be an opportunity for participants to identify and prioritize action steps to collaborate on in the next year to move towards that goal. Workgroups will develop position proposals to take back to the 95 neighborhood associations in Portland for review and feedback.
“I am committed to making our neighborhood system even stronger and more relevant to the many unique voices who call Portland home,” says Commissioner Randy Leonard. “The Neighborhood Summit is an ideal forum for neighborhood leaders citywide to identify services and initiatives that the City, ONI and the Coalitions can collaborate on in the interest of building a more viable neighborhood association system.”
Small group brainstorms and large group workgroups will provide participants an opportunity to identify solutions for improving public involvement between City Council, its bureaus, neighborhood associations and the public. In addition, participants will be asked to prioritize action steps they can work on collectively for strengthening the organizational and funding structure of Portland’s neighborhood system. Other topics covered will include efforts to diversify participation in neighborhood groups as well as how neighborhood associations work together on land use, transportation and other key development issues.
While registration is not required for participation in the summit, it will guarantee a box lunch for the first several hundred participants. Reply by e-mailing or calling Brian Hoop at 503-823-3075 or bhoop@ci.portland.or.us or Joleen Jensen-Classen at 503-823-2822 or joleenj@bes.ci.portland.or.us
MEETINGS
Livability issues
Business leaders will gather at Steamers Restaurant, 8303 N.E. Sandy Blvd. on Thursday, November 20 for the monthly general membership meeting of the Parkrose Business Association or PBA. The meeting will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. On tap will be presentations from member Alison Stoll of Central NE Neighbors, Inc and a representative of the Port of Portland. Reservations are not required, but if you have questions or need additional information, contact Gordon Boorse at 503-493-2215 or e-mail proseba@aol.com.
One view from Salem
The Gateway Area Business Association or GABA’s, next General Membership Meeting will be held Thursday, Nov. 13 from 11:45 to 1:00 pm. The meeting will be at JJ Norths Grand Buffet, 10520 N.E. Halsey St. The public is welcome. The guest speaker will be Mary Oberst, wife of Governor Ted Kulongoski. Her talk will include information on the recent legislative session, which was the lengthiest in Oregon’s history and her perspective about doing business in Oregon. If you have questions of comments for Oregon’s First Lady, please submit them in advance to Fred Sanchez at 503-256-3910 or Fred@RealtyBrokers.com. You can also visit GABA’s web-site at www.gabanet.com to garner information about GABA, its members and upcoming events.
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