West Gresham

Capri Terrace neighbors Click to enlarge

Gresham Code Enforcement speaks to neighbors about recognizing & reporting violations Food, friends and celebrations cap a sunny Fall afternoon

Capri Terrace Fall Meeting

The 25th of September was a beautiful day for the gathering of the Capri Terrace Neighborhood Watch group. Good turn out considering the distractions of family activities of football, soccer, birthday parties and other family get-togethers. 20 plus members were in attendance, which represented 13 households, plus 1 guest speaker, Rita Humphrey’s from the Gresham City Code Enforcement Division.

Ms Humphrey’s brought along some handouts to help the group in recognizing violations and how to report them. Naturally strange cars in the neighborhood and messy yards come to mind, but she also emphasized keeping traffic signs clear of tree limbs and other hazards. Residents are responsible for keeping vision fields up to 30 feet clear. Be especially aware of what transpires in and around vacant properties such as graffiti, broken windows and transients loitering around the premises.

Stark Street Project nearing completion Overnight paving 8PM to 6AM Drivers advised to seek alternate routes

Expect delays overnight

Starting today, crews will grind and place new pavement overlay on Stark Street in Rockwood between 190th and 199th avenues, including the approaches to Stark on Burnside Road. This work is part of Rockwood in Motion and the second phase of safety and boulevard improvements to Stark Street. The work is being conducted at night to minimize delays to the public.

Night work is anticipated from 8PM to 6AM Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 29-30, and will include flagging of the Stark/Burnside intersection, which may delay traffic in the area. Drivers are encouraged to seek alternate routes.

Paving will continue the first week in October to the east of Burnside on Stark Street down to 199th Avenue; Monday or Tuesday night, weather permitting. This work is anticipated to be finished in one night between 8PM. and 6AM. This pavement work will take one lane at a time and may require minor, periodic detours from side streets as the crews work around cooling asphalt.

Western Screech Owl Click to enlarge

Please come and join us, all are welcome! Nadaka becomes home for two rehabilitated Western Screech Owls

When: Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010 7PM
Where: Nadaka Nature Park
175th & NE Pacific St
Gresham, OR
Get Map!

Releases are weather dependent!

Back to the wild

Both of these Western Screech Owls came into Portland Audubon's Wildlife Care Center as fledglings. Unfortunately they had signs of head injury, probably from being hit by cars while learning to fly. After recovering from the initial injuries, the owls have been in a flight cage building up strength and learning to hunt. They are ready to be wild once more!

Human Solutions Rockwood Bldg Click to enlarge

Join Human Solutions as we break gound on the new Rockwood Building and celebrate the hard work and dedication of all our project partners

You're Invited!

When: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 1:00PM
Where: Human Solutions
Rockwood Mutli Service Center
124 NE 181st & Couch
Get map!

From vision to reality

After more than six years of fundraising and project design, The Rockwood Building will be the realization of a concept envisioned by Human Solutions that will bring much-needed housing and a suite of human services -together in a single building- to serve low-income families in the Rockwood area. The Rockwood Building will be constructed on a lot that has been empty for thirty years in the heart of one of the poorest areas in Multnomah County. It will bring infrastructure development and much needed social services to families in East Multnomah County, many of whom have been displaced by gentrification that has taken place in many Portland neighborhoods.

Guest Speakers

The program presentation will include a Welcome from Gresham Mayor Shane Bemis, with comments by Victor Merced, Director of Oregon Housing and Community Services, Oregon State Senator Laurie Monnes Anderson, Jan Laskey of Bank of America, Margaret Van Vliet, Director of Portland Housing Bureau, and Jean DeMaster, Executive Director of Human Solutions, as well as Carla Piluso, Human Solutions’ Board President and former Chief of Police for Gresham.

Burnside construction, Rockwood (Click to enlarge)

Rockwood in Motion: 188th MAX Station nighttime construction continues Expect excavation, drilling and other construction noise overnight

When: Sun Aug 22 thru Fri Aug 27, 10PM-7AM
Where: E Burnside (Between 185th - SE Stark)
Gresham, OR
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Plug your ears (It's not over yet)!

Nighttime construction work will continue up to five additional nights next week at the Rockwood 188th MAX station from 10PM to 7AM starting Sunday, August 22 through the morning of Friday, August 27. This is an extension of the original notice (Aug 15-19) as TriMet has encountered challenging subsurface condition during construction.

This work must be completed at night while the MAX trains are not in service in order to avoid machinery contacting the high voltage overhead wires. This work will involve excavation, drilling and other construction equipment. TriMet will make every effort to reduce the impact of this unavoidable noise on the surrounding neighborhood. Noise levels will vary depending on how close one is to the construction area, but are expected to peak between 66 and 76 decibels at 150 feet from the work site, or about as loud as a truck passing on Burnside. Free ear plugs are available during business hours at the Rockwood Community Office, located at 18709 SE Stark Street (directly adjacent to the construction site).

Gresham OR, July 23, 2010

There is admittedly bad blood between two neighbors in West Gresham's upscale Sandstone neighborhood but now their animosity is impacting an entire neighborhood.

The graffiti on the home of retired dentist Jeffrey Brady has caused his neighbor who's selling his house next door to loose 5 potential sales and 36% of the original asking price. The neighbor says if he doesn't sell his home soon he'll be forced to loose it to foreclosure.

Crosswalk and westbound MAX platform *CLOSED* for construction Please support local Rockwood restaurants and businesses

Closure Notice:

Beginning Monday, July 19, the north-south crosswalk on the west side of 188th Avenue and Burnside Street will be closed for construction of the new MAX platform. The westbound MAX platform for the Rockwood/E 188th MAX Station will also be closed as of that day, and riders will be directed to a new temporary westbound platform located directly across from the existing eastbound platform (just east of the intersection of 188th and Burnside). There are no changes for eastbound riders at this time. The MAX will continue to operate on schedule with no service interruptions anticipated.

Vehicular traffic both eastbound and westbound on Burnside Street will continue to be limited to one lane in this area until the new light rail platforms open in early 2011.

See Traffic Impact Map for a visual illustration of the pedestrian and vehicular traffic impacts.

Hungry? Eat in Rockwood!

There is a world of great dining options in Rockwood. Please support local Rockwood restaurants and other businesses during the construction. They are open and look forward to serving you!

Click here Rockwood in Motion Restaurant Guide (pdf).

IMPORTANT

Please observe all detours and other signs and signals near the site for safety. Please avoid closed crosswalks and sidewalks, and do not enter the posted construction area.

Traffic reduced to one through and one turn lane, east and west bound Burnside, during Rockwood MAX station construction

Rockwood Traffic Changes

Beginning Tuesday, July 6, 2010, work on the Rockwood/E 188th MAX Station improvements will impact both east and westbound traffic on E Burnside St between SE 185th Av and SE Stark St.

Both eastbound and westbound Burnside Street will be limited to one through lane and one left turn lane each in the same area until the new light rail platforms open in early 2011. Temporary MAX station platform construction is underway at the Rockwood station while work proceeds on the new platforms for the rebuilt station. The temporary platform, which will serve both east and west bound riders, is expected to be operating on July 19.

Curbside garbage prowler spotted, NE 164th & NE Holiday

Is your trash can a treasure chest for identity thieves?

X marks the spot!

Well, in this case, the 'X' is more like a lid with a handle on the top. For identity thieves who are looking for buried treasure, your garbage bin can be a jackpot of personal information. As the old saying goes, ’One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.’

Have you seen this guy?

About 5:30am July 7, 2010 a "scruffy looking" 25-35 year old male on a bicycle w/toddler trailer was observed sifting through several curbside trash bins in the area of 164th Ave & NE Holiday St. After being spotted he got back on his bike and casually rode away with his booty. But, not before this picture was taken with a cell phone.

What was he looking for?

Pop cans? Food? Personal information (maybe credit card receipts, bank statements)? Who knows.

Whatever it was, he decided to look elsewhere after he was seen doing some early morning 'dumpster diving' through other folks trash.

GRDC Workshop & GRDC Advisory Committee agenda: Refine Industrial Incentive Programs, Identify Capital Improvement Projects in Industrial Area, Rockwood-West Gresham URA Industrial Land Context, Guest Speakers

When: Thursday July 7, 2010 6PM-8PM
Where: Gresham City Hall
Conference Center
1333 NW Eastman Pky
Gresham OR
Get Map!

The Gresham Redevelopment Commission (GRDC) will hold a workshop with the GRDC Advisory Committee on Thursday, July 7, 2010 at 6:00PM in the Conference Center, Gresham Civic Center, City Hall Building, 1333 NW Eastman Parkway, Gresham, Oregon. The focus of the workshop will be on industrial development in the Rockwood-West Gresham Urban Renewal Area.

This is a public meeting.

On the agenda

Click here for Thursday night's Gresham Redevelopment Commission (GRDC) Advisory Committee meeting agenda. This link takes you to the City of Gresham webpage that has the attachments and further meeting information.

Topic include: Refine Industrial Incentive Programs, Identify Capital Improvement Projects in Industrial Area, Rockwood-West Gresham URA Industrial Land Context, Guest Speakers.

You will find all of this under "agenda" for the meeting on 7/7.