Vernon Neighborhood Association Minutes

Introduction by chair; Lindy
Sabin Comm. Development has not responded to phone calls and e-mails requesting continued conversation about possible property improvements along the space between the side walk and chain link fence on Alberta and 19th.


Oma goes over minutes and correspondence that are posted on the blog
Posted on www.vernonneighbors.blogspot.com the following . . .

March agenda
Feb Minutes
Rally and march against Iraq war
Art on Alberta St safety Project
Portland Parks and Rec

Report from John Fall, Chair of Land Use on how to advocate for the Killingsworth Street Transportation Safety Corridors study.
This is the study of traffic along Killingsworth that Land Use and the NECN Livability Committee would like the Department of Transportation to fund this effort in the upcoming budget. This grew out of the neighborhood tours conducted with Debbie Bischoff. John handed out info sheets on how we need to advocate to PDOT. He also passed out information with a web link to enable us to put in our testimony on line about this project being included on the budget.

Brain Simms neighborhood response, NE precinct
Passed out handouts with statistics on what is going on in these neighborhoods He works King, Vernon and Sabin neighborhoods. 17th and Killingsworth was cleaned up of drugs originally and it needs to be revisited.
We were informed of many of the successful arrests recently and also of the extended boarders that is served by only 28 police.

Vernon Elementary Judith Scott
We want to extend an invitation for all of
the VNA board members to join us at the Garden Community meeting on
March 21st (Vernon Extreme Makeover) Vernon School will be 100 years old this fall. Hands On Volunteer/Donation Signups:
Hands On-Volunteer Sign Up for the Vernon Earth Day celebration can be made at info@handsonportland.org. You will find a link to Vernon School project under “featured projects” on the right hand side of the page. Click on the “Extreme School Makeover Day: Vernon”. Scroll down to the bottom and click on “register now”. We are looking forward to many students, parents and friends of Vernon participating.


this gift from the Hands On Network will support us tremendously in
beautification of the school grounds, painting the interior of the
building and designing and building two beautiful gardens as learning
centers for our students and the Vernon community.

Pastor Moe re: sale of parking lot
Arvela speaks on behalf of Pastor Moe. The focus is on Social Justice, actively working on the causes of injustice. To work on things that improve life in general. One of the issues that comes up is affordable housing. They are now looking at a developer that has a common mission. She passed out flyers that had a map showing the parking lot that is going to be sold to provide more affordable housing and to give the church more support.
They are doing a parking exchange with the school next door. There were no objections.

Bishop Harry Daniels parking expansion
They have needed more parking for a long time. Existing traffic flow with be the same. Native planting, hedging and fencing will go in. Possibly more lighting will go in. Adding 11 spaces. Some questions, but no objections.


No Announcements or any items to be added to next months meeting.
Next board meeting is April 4th, Wed. evening @ 7:00 @ Lindy and Oma’s
Next general meeting is, April 10th, Tuesday @ 7:00 p.m. @ Enterbeing

Extreme Makeover for Vernon Saturday, April 21, 2007-9:00AM-6:00PM

Vernon School and Hands On of Greater Portland Come Together to Host an
Are you dreaming of a spring garden? Vernon School has been dreaming about a learning garden for our students and community for a long time. Hands On of Greater Portland has selected Vernon School for an exciting Earth Day celebration on Saturday, April 21, 2007. We hope you can join in the fun. Hands On will join Vernon staff, students and parents and many community volunteers to help our school develop two school learning gardens as well as a number of big “makeover” projects. The project will include the painting of the interior of the school, improvements to our playground, soccer field and cleanup work around the landscaping at Vernon. We hope you can join us for this exciting day!

Hands On Vernon Project
Community Meeting
March 21, 2007—Wednesday-6: 30 Multipurpose Room
On Wednesday, March 21, Principal Mrs. Miller and 7th grade teacher Mr. Reeves will join our Hands On Project Manager Cheryl Paul in celebrating this partner project at a Vernon Community Meeting. Plans for the “Extreme Make Over” day will be shared with our community just prior to our 6/7th grade curriculum night on the evening of March 21st. Please plan to join us in the multi-purpose room at 6:30 PM. Refreshments will be served.

Hands On Volunteer/Donation Signups:
Hands On-Volunteer Sign Up for the Vernon Earth Day celebration can be made at info@handsonportland.org. You will find a link to Vernon School project under “featured projects” on the right hand side of the page. Click on the “Extreme School Makeover Day: Vernon”. Scroll down to the bottom and click on “register now”. We are looking forward to many students, parents and friends of Vernon participating.

If you would like to make a donation, please contact Hands On at 503-413-7787 or e-mail Hands on at infor@handsonportland.org with “Donation for Vernon Extreme Makeover” in the subject line. You can also contact Gage Reeves at greeves@pps.k12.or.us. Come and join in the fun on March 21st at the Community Meeting and at the Earth Day event on Saturday, April 21st. See you there!

. . . rolling out the green carpet on MLK Blvd

. . . April 28, 2007

Event Registration Site:
Friends of Trees
3117 NE MLK Jr. Blvd
When:
April 28th
8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Businesses, community members, and citywide friends are invited to help beautify the
streetscape (NE Broadway to Lombard Street) and show pride on the boulevard in the
center of our diverse community!
Volunteers come join us for a FREE:
Continental Breakfast – 8 a.m. to 9 a.m
&
Celebration Lunch – Noon to 1 p.m.
* Graffiti removal * Trash & street debris pick-up * Node property clean-up
Put the glitz on MLK Jr. Blvd with city officials & GET INVOLVED!
Be a crew leader
Contact Katherine Krajnak
krajnakk@pdc.us
503-823-3242
Be a volunteer or a Team
Register online at www.solv.org
or call SOLV at 503-844-9571,
or Hands on Portland at
www.handsonportland.org
Be an event sponsor
Contact Gary Marschke at
gmarschke@comcast.net
503-284-9013

Keeping $$ in the Neighborhood

New Directory of Services urges Vernon residents to call on each other when contracted services are needed
By Nell Johnson
Want to know where you can get a massage, within walking distance? Want to know who can design your new kitchen while you have a cup of coffee in hers? Frame your artwork? Put an addition on your house? WE can!!!!
A new directory of services is being created just for “Vernonites,” listing the many talents and skills that we can provide each other. The directory will appear in the VNA monthly online newsletter and will be excellent way for us to get to know each other and strengthen our bonds. It’s also a good way to keep our hard-earned dollars in the neighborhood, giving work to our cherished neighbors. Bartering is encouraged. The possibilities for creative deal-making are limited only by your imagination. Teenagers may participate (babysitting, lawn mowing, computer help, etc.). Hey, I’ll trade you two hydrangeas for a Spanish lesson!
If you have a service that you can offer your neighbors--from dog sitting to web design—send an e-mail to vernonservices@hotmail.com and provide the following information:
1- your name
2- the service you provide
3- the phone number you would like clients to call
4- Optional: the e-mail address you would like clients to use to contact you
5- Optional: a link to your professional website, or a short paragraph describing your service and what you can offer Vernon residents
Look for the directory in the VNA newsletter as soon as we have ten or more services to post. The list will be kept up-to-date with services and contact information. Fees or other contractual details will not be a part of the database information. The directory is limited to Vernon residents. The Vernon Neighborhood Association accepts no liability for any service listed in the directory or any transaction between client and provider.
Background: The Vernon Neighborhood Association just keeps getting better and stronger. From the few meetings I have attended, I sense that just as we are coming together as a community to face issues, we are learning who we are, collectively. Just recently, my partner, Tom Thompson, and I dug holes, grunted and groaned on a beautiful late winter afternoon to plant a remarkable collection of parking strip trees for Friends of Trees that will benefit Vernon Neighborhood for decades to come. We got to know other volunteer tree planters and learned that there are remarkable people right here in our immediate surroundings who can help us with our daily work challenges. Thus sprang the idea for the Vernon Services Directory.