1) Meet your neighbors from Arbor Lodge
2) North Portland highway homeless camps to be swept last
3) City council to vote on funding for N Greeley multi-use path
4) Annual native plant sale coming up
5) Beach Elementary School could collapse in an earthquake
1) Meet your neighbors from Arbor Lodge
The Overlook and Arbor Lodge neighborhood associations will host a joint happy hour/meetup at Lucky Lab Tap Room (1700 N Killingsworth St.) on Jan. 31, 6-8 p.m. This will be a great opportunity to make new friends, reconnect with old ones and talk about what’s happening in North Portland. Board members from both neighborhoods will be on hand to chat with neighbors.
We look forward to seeing you there. The event is open to all residents, including families.
2) North Portland highway homeless camps to be swept last
The City of Portland has taken over responsibility for removing illegal homeless campsites from Oregon Department of Transportation land. City teams will provide a 48-hour notice before sweeping camps located along state and interstate highways.
The city announced its schedule for enforcement. Phase 1 is underway and includes the I-5 and I-405 loop around downtown, highways along the West Hills, and I-205 in East Portland.
Phase 2 will begin in April and includes I-84, Highway 30 bypass and Highway 99-E.
ODOT roads in North Portland will be part of Phase 3 and will not begin seeing sweeps until July. Covered roads include I-5 north of the Fremont Bridge and N Lombard Street.
As homeless camps are swept in other areas during the first six months of the year, campers could move to areas not scheduled for immediate sweeps. North Portland could see an increase in homeless camping as a result.
In the meantime, residents can report illegal campsites in Overlook or anywhere else using the city’s official site.
3) City council to vote on funding for N Greeley multi-use path
Portland City Council will vote on Wednesday on an ordinance to authorize a contract for the N Greeley multi-use path not to exceed $1.9 million. The project will install protected bike lanes on Greeley.
Learn more about the project online.
Anyone interested in testifying on the ordinance or watching the discussion can attend the council meeting, which begins at at 9:30 a.m. The meeting also will stream online.
4) Annual native plant sale coming up
East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District’s annual native plant sale will open online ordering at 6 a.m. on Jan. 16. Some of the most popular plants sell out, so plan to get online early if you have specific landscaping needs.
The native plant Sale is a great way to fill your yard with inexpensive, bare-root native trees and shrubs. All plants are just $3 each. Click here to see this year’s plant list. (Please note: This list is subject to change, based on plant availability.)
Customers can purchase up to 15 of each species. This will help ensure a more balanced distribution of plants per customer.
5) Beach Elementary School could collapse in an earthquake
Last week Portland Public Schools revealed that 29 schools are at risk of collapsing in an earthquake because they are unreinforced masonry. Beach Elementary School in the Overlook Neighborhood is among them.
Learn more in this KGW report.