P & R Minutes – 5/14/09
June 15, 2009 by Tanya
Filed under Minutes, Parks & Rec. Minutes, Parks & Recreation
NWDA Parks and Rec. Meeting May 14th 10am World Cup
Attended: Tanya March (chair march@pdx.edu), Bryan Aptekar, Scott Lee Sharp, Nancy Davis, Mark Warrington, Frank Silva, Carol Sterkel, Frank Scotto, Britta (), Juliet Hyams, Catherine ()
Couch Park
A spike in crime at Couch Park and how to work together as a community with Parks and Rec., the police and ONI was the main topic. There was a lengthy discussion of park laws under “Portland City Code” Chapter 20.12
Because enforcement resources are limited, Portland Parks and Recreation also relies on park users to report problems. There are issues of etiquette and issues of civil rights that concerned members and were touch upon.
Wallace Park
A noise complaint, at the dog park at Wallace, was brought up. Additional, planting are going in at Wallace to reduce noise and beautify the fence. The art will be moved out of the dog park-this has been discussed for a year now. It is now fenced to protect it from balls, which were hurting the sculpture.
The Swift Watch is an issue the impacts the community. Could parks keep the public restrooms open during these activities? PPS staff from Chapman needs to be linked into solutions regarding crowds. As this is not on the park perhaps working with the NWDA public safety committee was suggested.
Safety at both Parks
Talk regarding when to call 911 and when to call non-emergency 823-3333. Frank from ONI and Mark from PP&R expressed the concept of zero tolerance particularly towards alcohol and drug consumption. Efforts to locate source of beer etc. discourage sales was discussed.
Portland Park Rangers can be contacted at 503-823-1637.
Issues can be reported through ParkScan online.
If you have a problem with dogs in any park, please call Multnomah County Animal Services at 503-988-7387. Fear of crime is a factor that crime stats are not able to report. Additionally, crime rates ebb and flow in the parks but traditionally increase with warmer temperatures. The mission at 4th and Washington has pushed crime to Couch. Should we close our parks at 10pm? Summer Concerts and National Night Out cold use our support and be positive environments to promote park safety.
You have a post requesting that dog owners be “considerate,” but nothing that asks neighbors be reasonable in their expectations. NW is an urban neighborhood with lots of ambient noise, from many sources other than dogs. I have seen neighbors complain to dog owners about barking at 2:00 PM on Saturday when their are people cheering at a baseball game, children yelling on the playground, loud buses passing by and many other sources of noise in the Wallace park area. In my opinion, the signs at Wallace park and the “dog ettiquette” posting on this website have encouraged the development of unreasonable expectations on the part of neighbors.
“You have a post requesting that dog owners be “considerate,” but nothing that asks neighbors be reasonable in their expectations.”
The NWDA has no such post. A neighbor complained to me while I was chair of NWDA Parks and Rec. committee, the NWDA took no action on the complaint. The parks department were at the meeting they hoped that the new plantings and removing the sculpture to a safer location would all be assets to the park experience.
The dog Etiquette was not in my notes for the May meeting. The source I am aware of for dog Etiquette is from the Portland is very dog loving site and was never intended to ruffle feathers. No one ever attended a parks meeting with complaints about bus or baseball all though there were complaints about basket ball games if I recall language used not volume was the issue-I’d need to review my notes.
Portlandpooch.com “your guide to the Portland Dog Scene” http://www.portlandpooch.com/index.htm
“As fellow Portland dog lovers, our goal is to provide the most comprehensive online guide to all of the wonderful doggy resources the Portland area has to offer. From doggy daycares to dog washes to descriptions of every dog park in the region, you can find it here. We are constantly adding, updating, and improving this site, so drop us an email and let us know how we are doing!”
Thank you for bringing up the use of balance. I hope that you will be active in the NWDA in the future.