Minutes
Thursday, February 23, 2023 on Zoom 5:30pm
Meeting Minutes
Board Attendees: Michelle Abbey, Ken Atwell, Jim Christo, Susi Gaylord and Sara Moss (all board members present) + Makayla Oliver (City of Bend)
Action Items
Action Items
Susi to work with Ken and designer to provide an image for website to accompany the final logo; Sara to update website with new logo and artwork once it's available - in progress
Ken continuing to reach out to neighbors on SEBNA borders to gauge interest in joining SEBNA (Oct) - Cabin Lane and Pahlisch meetings planned for the coming month - in progress
See additional action items below, highlighted in orange
Minutes
Welcome
Public Comments
No community members present
Digital Radar - due in April - last year we did Parrell and Country Club
Board Membership & Roles
Noted interest in adding additional Board members
Land Use Chair - Ken happy to give advice and input, history and background - but can't do timelines and pressure around delivery; Michelle cannot be the Land Use Chair; Makayla noted that the minimum responsibility required is to receive public notices from the city; we spoke at great length about how to be effective in shaping development
NLA to City Council influence
Move goal posts to relect - need to ensure code enforces
Participate in Urban Growth Plan, Transportation Plan, etc - and question the underlying data, bring in
A few years back - Whitepaper by several Land Use Chairs, NAs, etc. which got the attention of council, became a 2-year project adopted by council as a goal and made permit process changes
Land Use - Ken
Crown Villa / Sun Country - PRIORITY
Planner has not posted Ken's comments over the past 3 weeks and has escalated - MUST HAVE SIDEWALKS ON WEST SIDE OF BROSTERHOUS
Lot line adjustments, etc. - a lot of big things happening - current planner not responding and they are making decisions without a neighborhood meeting; not a city project because private development, point to the code and people do the minimum
Ken to give us the email address and permit numbers so public can comment on requiring sidewalks - Susi/Sara to help publicize - somehow, we do not understand why, no public meeting is required for this development
No Gas Station
Council voted 5-2 against hearing the permit appeal; SE Bend Neighbors for Responsible Development working on a LUBA appeal and appeal to Andretti family (owners of GP Energy / Colvin Oil LLC)
Ken noted 1/2 acre lot not properly developed; Makayla will review her notes and reach back out to Ken on her research
Active Transportation Connectivity through and throughout SE Bend - Michelle / Ken - Proactive SEBNA effort in progress
Ken noted that code states there will be 100% sidewalks on public and private lands
Talked about working with Bend Bikes to understand current, planned and wish list routes
Ken encouraged us to brainstorm solutions for paying for plans at the same time we identify connectivity opportunities
Ken noted that Parks & Rec is very interested in opportunities
Country Club to The Bridges Pedestrian Zone. Ken suggested that the Board could dive into what it would take to create great bike/pedestrian connectivity throughout SE Bend.
Arnold Irrigation Moving Underground
Arnold will be finished by ~2026
Ken noted syphoning under Knott and China Hat is expected to be a variable - Ken will research
We discussed that covering the canal is a federally-driven project
Will become a paved bike/pedestrian path
Bike Connectivity in SE Bend
Michelle and Ken to go meet with Karen Swarsky who wrote the Transportation System Plan
Ken will also coordinate with OFDNA / Karen (Jan) - need to connect up with adjoining neighborhood associations
Ken to email map of idealized bikeways to the Board (curb, sidewalks and expanded bikeway required by City, Ken noted that this won't work as planned by the city. As an example: Tillicum Village won't allow some residents being forced to build-out sidewalks on private streets. So, we need a creative approaches and solutioning here.
Shiloh - APPROVED AS PLANNED
Ken to double check status, but believes plan has been approved
Townhouses by the Golf Course - Ken Proactively Reaching Out
Have a plat for 37? units, at 31 require a second access 24' wide for fire department, which is expected at 4th/5th hole of the golf course - Ken watching the application
Woodside Court (on the south side of railroad on Country Club, dead end right now) - Withdrawn by Developer
Kim Ward gave to Affordable Housing Group as a tax deduction; third try to get affordable housing there, Ken responded to developer questions, developer withdrew again, would require another access onto Country Club would double the size of Woodside Court resulting in minimal parking and ending in parking on the road without curbs and sidewalks; was 45-50 units and asked for forgiveness of right of way for additional units
Lamont Apartments (15th & Knott) - High density apartments are planned - 200 units (just east of Caldera) - APPROVED AS PLANNED
No update since November SEBNA Board meeting - Ken has reviewed the plans and is not seeing any concerns at this time
Brosterhous Railroad Pedestrian Underpass - Under Construction - COMPLETE
Parrell & 97 - Under Construction - 2 lots are subdividing into 13 lots
Ken is following-up on Calvin Way crosswalk request (long-time safety request) - Ken received no response since Nov? email
Opportunity Area/Zone (15th & Murphy) - No Known Development Plans
Ken noted that 'anything' could end up at this location because of the unique zoning; Seems to be a staging area for local developers at the moment
Density, commercial is expected - could end up being a climate-friendly zone (this time next year the city will have to have decided where these areas will be 25-40 housing units/acre - vertical building expected; no zoning designation
Jody Ward owns this property; unlikely they won't develop this property until opportunity truly defined
Board to discuss in future meeting
South of China Hat
Ken does not expect development in this area for decades
Short-term Rentals continue to come up - Golf Course, Timber Ridge and Mountain High (all have HOAs) are the only green zones on the online map meaning virtually all short-term permits have been taken
Hot Topics & SEBNA Board Positions
Climate-Friendly & Equitable Communities (CFEC) starting to make its way into code
Timelines are set for the next two years - City will be following Oregon state timeline - designating areas, conforming code to CFEC and SEBNA needs to be involved along with developers and affordable housing reps are present, will result in country approved residential areas and then the city will absorb these larger lots; we're not opposed to 40 units to the acre plan but just need to be involved to understand transit plan, parking, etc. - need aggressive engagement at the NLA level asap - Jim will bring it up with the NLA
Parking is being redefined - HB2001 and continuing, covered in 1/18 Council Meeting, talked about how we need Transit, City Parking department funded by parking tickets! So, without onsite parking available and public transportation, illegal offsite parking is expected; council talked about how the parking
Comprehensive Plan / Urban Growth Boundary discussion
Ken expects this to come up again soon, Ken noted there are subjective elements to the code that needs to be turned into specific, objective requirements
Ken noted all code flows from the Transportation System Plan and the Comprehensive Plan and public input is allowed in these plans but we MUST change subjective terms into objective / measurable metrics
Public generated opinions about what we want Bend to be; must be defined as objective and defensible code because subjective definitions seem to favor developers not residents when permits are submitted. For example, what does "walkable" mean? Yes to speed limit definition (objective), No to "discourage pedestrians" (subjective)
Community Engagement
Neighborhood Leadership Alliance (NLA) - Jim - Morgan Schmidt (Chair)
White boarded suggested Council goals; NLA leadership submitted goals to Council (Jim doesn't have a copy of what was submitted yet)
Council Liaison - Barb Campbell assigned to SEBNA - Jim will reach out and invite her to our March meeting
Neighborhood Association Round Table (NART) - Susi
No Meeting since last SEBNA meeting
OFDNA/SEBNA Joint Board Meeting - Jim - Old Farm indicated they are interested in meeting again going forward; No update since November SEBNA Board meeting
City Council Working Sessions & Meetings
Ken suggested that we consider tracking what the City Council is working on during their Working Sessions (Oct)
Susi suggested that we rotate a SEBNA Board member attending City Council meetings
Planning Commission - Michelle to monitor agendas
Communications
Board Meeting
Decided on a regular meeting date, agenda to be published and shared with public one week prior to the meeting on the website and will schedule to go out one week each meeting via mailchimp - e.g. 2/16 for 2/23 email
Settled on the 4th Thursday of the month - will likely need to move Nov and Dec dates
Website - Sara - will continue to build out; Makayla to redirect
SEBNA Email: Susi will monitor the inbox
E-mail List: 177 subscribers (-2 from last month) (no change)
Direct Mail List - Starting in June, Makayla will provide templates and deal with mailing house, Need to understand if City is paying for 2x mailings in addition to managing logistics
Social Media - Susi (Facebook/Twitter)/Michelle (Instagram) - ad hoc; important for engagement; Susi will research setting up Facebook against our SEBNA email address
Media Coverage - Bend Bulletin interview completed, will reach out for pictures, spreading the stories over 9 months
Survey - Survey Planet account set-up; we discussed Michelle's draft survey; Makayla noted Orchard NA has had a lot of success asking demographic data and learning about their residents; annual meetings are promoted by the city so associated surveys will be as well but not all surveys or city digital person could share
Newsletter - Susi / Michelle - Was sent out for Jan/Feb, will be Mar/Apr -- next newsletter March 16th
Annual Meetings (will be promoted by the city)
Annual SEBNA Block Party - slated for September 2023 - Alpenglow Park; Makayla working with Parks & Rec around which parks we can use; wrapping trailer with chairs/tables, BBQ, sound system, etc., City will handle certificate of insurance - will be ready by end of March (rolling 6 month reservation system should open by first of April or so), Zavi/Makayla will drop the trailer for us - all we need to do is find food, find entertainment and work with Makayla around direct mail - Susi will lead event planning/coordinating for us
Annual SEBNA Business Meeting - slated for late Mar/Apr 2024
City Popup Town Hall - will be in the SE once per year
Makayla will help SEBNA with engineering communications, city feedback, etc. if needed - just reach out
SEBNA Budget Update - Budget: $3600 (Jul 1 - Jun 30); $393 spent YTD (use it or lose it)
Other Business
SEBNA Boundaries - Current boundaries don't seem to be intuitive. We are a new Board and a growing NA. Will revisit in Jan 2023.
Ideas for Next Annual Business Meeting - Water conservation
Potential Meeting Locations - Barnes & Noble, East Bend Library (free, reserveable online), Fire Station Community Room (tbd), Trinity Lutheran (Knott & Brosterhous tbd - friendly but busy), and The Pines Community Room (free, open to , Back 9 Club House (Ken can ask Jody), Country Club ($150/use, Timber Ridge HOA meets there)
Next Board Meeting