Gateway Green

This discussion was buried in another forum, so I have moved it here with our other local advocacy efforts.
3/10The Gateway Green Committee being facilitated by Oregon Solutions is still meeting monthly.  The goal for the group is to develop an agreement between the parties to move forward on the project.  Right now, no single agency wants to take the lead, primarily because of lack of funding.  Portland Parks, who seems the most logical to take ownership, is hesitant without real commitments from other agencies/groups to help with funds for construction and on-going maintenance.  
The whole situation is complicated by the ODOT ownership and subsequent requirements.  ODOT will ultimately need a formal agreement with another government agency and we are looking at forming a consortium that would oversee the development and on-going management.
The program that is being considered includes several elements including some areas for general recreation by the public (dog park, playground, etc.) and of course biking facilities. These would include a pumptrack, skills park, singletrack trails and a gravity area on the south end.  This area might include a jumpline, drop line, dual slalom course, etc.  I think there's some real potential for what is a relatively small space.  We're pushing for a phased approach, that would expedite getting trails on the ground sooner rather than later.    
In short, I think, we're still a ways away from moving any dirt.  The project has legs and support from various agencies and interest groups, but it's going to take some time to work out the myriad issues.
A SOLV cleanup day is scheduled for April 17th, see the calendar.

Posted 6/09

There's been some recent development on the Gateway Green project that I wanted to share with those that are interested.

For those of you who are not aware, I was asked to sit on the Board of Directors for Friends of Gateway Green some time ago.

The Board includes myself, Linda Robinson, neighborhood/citizen activist and one of the founders of the Gateway Green project, Ted Gilbert, Developer and citizen activist and also one of the sponsors of the project, Jim Labbe of Audubon Society, and Bill Barber, resident of the Gateway area.  This group was formed to administer some of the anticipated tasks and to act as an administrator of funds as they are needed.  FOGG was the recipient of a grant from the City of Portland in the amount of approximately $45k a few months back. These funds are intended to jump start the project.

We held an Open House in April that was well attended and strong support was given by a number of local politicos including the Mayors office, Commissioner Nick Fish, METRO Commissioners Robert Liberty and REx Burkholder, among others.  Coverage of the Open House can be found on BikePortland.org

Shortly prior to that, myself, Ted, Linda and Chris Barnhardt of ALTA Planning met with Zari Santner, head of Portland Parks, Jason Tell, head of Region 1 ODOT (who owns the property), Tim Wood, Director of Oregon State Parks, Jim Desmond of METRO, and Steve Bryant of Oregon Solutions.  Oregon Solutions  helps facilitate projects of a significant nature around Oregon and reports directly to the governor.  

The purpose of those meetings was to roll out the concept plan developed by ALTA and to discuss what agency might take the lead as a partner agency with ODOT (ODOT needs a government agency to work with on the potential purchase and operation of the property).  Their feedback was very positive, but State Parks and METRO seemed a little hesitant to take the role as lead agency for various reasons.  Portland Parks was not opposed to being the lead agency, but indicated they would need more information before committing. Oregon Solutions requires that a party commit to convening the process before they will commit to the project.

Earlier this week, I received a copy of the letter that Nick Fish sent to Steve Bryant outlining the terms under which Parks would agree to be the lead agency for the project.  I hope to get permission to post a copy of that letter soon. Not unexpectedly, Parks raised issues about funding, but the tone of the letter is positive.  Most encouraging was  some language indicating that Parks would like to see the bike oriented improvements be initiated as soon as possible, without requirements for having the other sustainable and pedestrian-oriented (i.e. bridges $$$) be a condition of the development.  This is really positive because it significantly reduces the dollars required to get something happening on the ground.

Next Steps?  First, Oregon Solutions needs to commit to the project as a facilitator.  Their services come with a fee, which could be paid with some of the grant funds received earlier.  Having Or Solutions involved in the project really gives it a higher profile due to the indirect involvement of the governor and motivates the parties involved to make something happen.  We hope to see that agreement finalized shortly, then we can resume talks among the parties to identify the next hurdles.  We'll also need to refine our estimates for construction, and identify a party/mechanism for operating the project.

I encourage you to sign up as a fiend of Gateway Green on the FOGG website and look her for more info.  We're still a ways off from building, but we're making progress.  Also, we'll post notices of any work parties or other events here.  Jordan Norris is NWTA's Gateway Green rep. and will be posting info about events as they arise.

Thanks,
Tom Archer