APNBA

Dear St. Johns Community Members,

It is my pleasure to send this update regarding the downtown St. Johns Brownfield project.

The City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) has performed environmental site assessment and cleanup at 8735 N Lombard St In downtown St. Johns. BES is also taking ownership of the property from the Portland Development Commission (PDC) in order to facilitate public involvement, issue a public Request For Proposals (RFP) and sell the site to a selected developer. To date, two public meetings have been conducted, information collected and a steering committee is being formed.

This letter was published today by the Oregonian from Sam.

The Oregonian editorial board is right in their March 27 editorial. It is the City's job to "build a plan that works for all the [Hayden Island] neighborhood."

The development hiatus that City Council unanimously approved six months ago on Hayden Island allows the residents and the City to complete a neighborhood plan that can address the unique transportation challenges of the island.

EastPDX News - City grants boost East Portland business association projects

Leaders of many East Portland business associations celebrated and dined for good reason on January 22 - they were picking up a grant checks totaling $82,125.

The event was the Alliance of Portland Neighborhood Business Association's (APNBA) grant awards, at the Ambridge Conference Center.

After a buffet dinner, the program began. Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams was on hand to greet the grant recipients.

Commissioner Adams' proposed changes, cosponsored by Potter, Saltzman and Sten makes investments in Portland's "small business and entrepreneurial class"

Portland, OR - New, smaller and Portland-based businesses - up to an estimated 9,000 of them - will get $3 million worth of tax relief under a plan proposed by City Commissioner Sam Adams and cosponsored by Mayor Tom Potter and Commissioners Dan Saltzman and Erik Sten.

One of Portland's most charming characteristics is its neighborhood business Districts. From Hawthorne to Mississippi, each has the potential to be a thriving district. However, many of these districts still lack the investment and infrastructure needed to meet their potential.

Recognizing this need, Sam, as the APNBA liaison on City Council, secured ongoing funding for the APNBA Grant Program as a first step. Last year, Sam increased this fund by $100,000 but it was only one-time funding. This year, through the budget process, Sam secured ongoing funding for projects like marketing, infrastructure improvements and training for business districts.

APNBAAs part of the Fall Budget Monitoring Process, better known as the BuMP, the Alliance of Portland Neighborhood Business Districts (APNBA) will receive $250,000 to begin implementation of their new strategic plan.

"Our business districts have been underfunded since their creation," stated Commissioner Adams, who is the liaison for the APNBA. "Building capacity for our business districts has been one of my top priorities. I look forward to working with APNBA to help them achieve their goals."

For the first time in modern Portland history, 13,000 new, smaller and Portland-focused businesses got a reduction on their city Business Licence Fees (BLF).

Portland is a city of small business. The foundation of a strong, sustainable economy is the family-wage job. It's no surprise then that Portland's future success depends on our ability to match small business success with family-wage job growth.

Commissioner Adams What is Fair?

A Townhall meeting to discuss potential changes to Portland's Business License Fee

KINK ConsidersNovember 10, 2006 - It's a bit of Alice-In-Wonderland right here in Portland. KINK Considers changing the City's business income tax.

Greenbrier Companies is a great Portland asset. It employs 13-hundred workers, pays family wages, and manufactures railcars at its Gunderson subsidiary. That kind of manufacturing business is very good for Portland because the cars are sold around the world and the money comes to Portland. Greenbrier made a 32-million dollar profit last year on sales of almost a billion dollars. But since none of its sales were made within the Portland city limits, City rules would make its City income tax bill one hundred dollars, the minimum.

Sam filming the introduction for the Clean River Rewards videoThe Bureau of Environmental Services is launching a Clean Water River Rewards Program that will offer new incentives for homes and businesses to make their property more eco-friendly. Eligible accounts will be able to receive up to 35% percent off their monthly stormwater management fee. As part of the program, BES is putting together two informational videos for the website. One will lead you through how to fill out the registration form and the other describes ways to make your property more stormwater safe. There are separate versions of each video for residential and business property owners. All versions begin with a clip of Sam introducing the program and talking about the importance of stormwater management.

Last Tuesday afternoon, October 3, I met with over 80 Hawthorne mostly business owners, property owners and a few neighborhood residents. We met at the Mennonite church at SE 35th and Main.

The assembled group voted to continue participation in our studies underway of on-street parking demand and an assessment of the economic health of the Hawthorne, Division/Clinton and Belmont business districts.

Representatives from the Neighborhood and Business Associations gathered together to hear more about the Neighborhood Parking Benefit Program. Approximately 50 people attended to listen to presentations about the "Cost of Free Parking," the Lloyd District Transportation Management Association and the Bureau of Planning Corridor Study.

Sam opened the summit taking questions and concerns about what they know about this program. Our first presenter was Douglas Kolozsvari's, Environmental Planner for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. He was a graduate student researcher for Professor Donald Shoup, one of the leading researchers on parking policies and author of "The High Cost of Free Parking." His presentation  focused on the cost of free parking and the example of Old Town Pasedena.

Next, Rick Williams, Executive Director for Lloyd District Transportation Management Association, discussed the benefits of metered parking in the district.

Steve Dotterrer, Principle Planner with Portland Bureau of Planning, talked about their corridor study.

The summit can be viewed via streaming video, just click here!

The next steps will be to meet with each corridor to discuss initial data analysis. Coming soon will be a website for this program.....stay tuned!

At the quarterly Alliance of Portland Neighborhood Business Association (APNBA) meeting, Sam presented grants receipts with their checks. The APNBA Buisness Improvement Grant is a very effective program for improvement in our business districts. This is the reason why Sam advocated to get them an additional $100,000 last year. Here is the list of this year's recipients:

Central Sandy, $2,500 for a business directory.
Division/Clinton, $3,500 for their street fair.
Foster Area, $3900 for park improvements.
Hillsdale Business & Professional, $2,000 for developing the Hillsdale Plaza.
Multnomah village, $3,000 to add flower baskets and update the website.
Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center, $3,000 for programming and documentation to promote cultural organizations.
Portland Mural defense, $1,100 to complete the Russian House Mural.
SMILE, $800 for hanging flower pot project.

In total, $19,800 was awarded which leveraged $80,000 in match for these projects.

After much rescheduling, Commissioner Adams visited Multnomah Village as part of his Business Association Walkabouts. Multnomah Village is one of 11 Business Associations selected for a pilot program to have Environmental Services and Transportation Community Liaisons. These Liaisons are intended to provide a single point of contact for navigating City services.

All the stormwater pouring into our drains provided a natural segway into watershed improvement ideas like a possible a "greenstreet" in front of the toy store. We also looked at traffic issues at awkward intersections such as Capital Highway, Canby, and 32nd (Lucky Lab, Loaves and Fishes, and Multnomah Art Center).

Thanks to Luna Jaffe, Edward Jones Investment, Judy Torme, Multnomah Antiques, Tye Steinbach, Thinker Toys, Don Snedecor, Multnomah Village Post, and Leo from the Multnomah Art Center for joining us on this wet Friday.

Clark Henry is the Program Manager for the Bureau of Environmental Service's Brownfields Program.

What in the world is a Brownfield? This and how can Brownfields create economic vitality for Portland were some of the questions that I helped answer on a tour with Commissioner Adams and his staff this afternoon.

Here we are at a PDC/City owned site in downtown St. Johns where BES will address 13 underground storage tanks and soil contamination and then work with PDC to redevelop the site and enhance the St. Johns commercial district.

Translated: Brownfields are properties with environmental contamination or those that just look contaminated. Left as they are, Brownfields endanger human and environmental health while draining the economy by not providing employment, tax revenue or amenities.   

Despite Portland’s reputation as an environmentally minded city, we are home to more than 500 of Brownfields in need of attention. They exist in every community, though in higher concentrations within lower income communities and communities of color.

We toured several properties in various stages of cleanup and redevelopment such as old gas stations and a battery recycling facility to discuss the work of the Portland Brownfield Program. We talked about what the program does and innovative ways we can better clean up and facilitate new development, a cleaner environment and stronger community identity.   

Having recently been awarded $400,000 to provide environmental assessments and technical assistance, I am looking for property owners interested in redeveloping or selling their properties.  Sam’s office and the Portland Brownfield Program want to help you find ways to overcome difficult issues on your property.  We have a proven track record of providing financial and technical assistance that can help owners realize their vision for their sites.

Let me know if I can provide assistance to your business or group. I can be reached at:
(503) 823-5863, or clarkh@bes.ci.portland.or.us