1) OKNA General Meeting
2) Free spay/neuter for cats
3) Register to vote by April 24
4) Landslide zones in Overlook
5) Portland is fixing potholes
6) Portland water survey
1) OKNA General Meeting
Join your neighbors on Tuesday, April 17 at the Overlook Neighborhood Association General Meeting. We’ll learn about the city’s Residential Infill Project, receive an update on the residential development project at 1935 N Killingsworth St., and hear about what’s going on at the Hazelnut Grove homeless camp and Greeley Forest Garden. The full agenda is available here.
2) Free spay/neuter for cats
FCCO-spring-special2018 flyerSpring is in the air, and that’s the season for kitty love. Cats are breeding, including the feral felines that live in the neighborhood. Getting cats spayed/neutered this Spring will reduce nuisance behaviors like yowling, cat flights and spraying, and it will prevent unwanted litters of kittens this summer.
The Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon is offering a free spay/neuter special for feral and stray cats through May 15. Make an appointment today and use promo code: spring18. Call 503-797-2606 or visit feralcats.com to schedule your appointment. FCCO is located in SW Portland just off I-5.
Individuals feeding feral or stray cats qualify for free services, regardless of income or where they live. Pet cat prices are on a sliding scale starting at $15. Make sure your kitty is healthy and kitten-free for life.
Learn more by clicking on the image to see the official flyer.
3) Register to vote by April 24
The May 15 primary election is fast approaching. Several important local races will appear on the ballot including two contested City Council seats. April 24 is the last day for voters to change their party registration. Please make sure your voter registration is up-to-date and remind your friends to do the same.
If you have recently moved, changed your name, or haven’t received a ballot in a while, please ensure that your registration is updated. You can check or update your registration status by visiting the State Election Division’s online portal.
This year, the Independent Party of Oregon (IPO) has opened its primary election to non-affiliated voters. Those voters may vote in the IPO primary election without changing their registration by requesting an IPO ballot from their local county clerk by clicking here to download the form and instructions.
The Democratic and Republican parties again this year will use closed primaries to select their nominees. Only registered members of the party may participate.
As usual, non-affiliated voters and members of minor political parties that do not participate in the IPO primary will be mailed a ballot that includes all nonpartisan races for which they are eligible to vote.
The state’s minor political parties hold their own nominating processes for partisan offices, usually after the May Primary. View a list of all of the state’s political parties with information and links about how to contact them.
4) Landslide zones in Overlook
The Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) has completed a study mapping landslide hazard areas in Multnomah County, and it found several in Overlook. Check out their interactive map to see if your home is at risk. You can also read about steps homeworkers can take to reduce their risk.
“Even a few inches of movement during landslides can cause serious damage,” says Bill Burns, engineering geologist and lead author of the DOGAMI study. “Thousands of landslides have occurred in Multnomah County since the 1970s, and are continuing to happen every year.”
The study, which included the cities of Portland, Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview, and Wood Village, shows areas where taking action to reduce landslide risk could make a big difference. About 37,000 people live in and about $8.7 billion in buildings and land value are located in areas with high landslide susceptibility. About 6,700 of those people and $1.65 billion of building and land value is atop land that’s actually slid in the past.
5) Portland is fixing potholes
Late winter freezes and snow flurries left Portland streets with hundreds of potholes. Crews with the Portland Bureau of Transportation quickly switched from snow and ice clearing to pothole patching, placing extra crews on pothole work to get through a backlog of more than 500 reports submitted by everyday Portlanders.
For two weeks in March, PBOT assigned nine crews to focus on repairing potholes on city streets, up from the two crews assigned to potholes on a normal day. Workers who typically would be re-paving roads, patching utility cuts or other preventive maintenance were spreading hot asphalt instead.
Crews filled almost 1,445 potholes at more than 350 locations — more than two months’ worth of patches in just two weeks. From March 19 to March 30, the number of pending pothole requests from the public dropped from 297 to 51, as crews responded to reports, often filling multiple potholes at each location.
Report potholes by phone at 503-823-1700, or email pdxroads@portlandoregon.gov or using the PDXReporter.org web site.
6) Portland water survey
The Portland Water Bureau is working on new treatment processes for the Bull Run drinking water source to meet state and federal regulations for water quality. Future projects include:
- Corrosion control: Reducing the corrosiveness of Bull Run drinking water to minimize lead in home plumbing from entering drinking water, and
- Bull Run Filtration: Installation of a filtration plant to remove potential contaminants such as Cryptosporidium.
The Water Bureau wants to hear from residents to help guide initial decisions that will be made on some of the key aspects of the future filtration plant
Take the 5-minute filtration survey to tell the Water Bureau what matters to you most about the quality of your drinking water and the filtration plant.