Senior Center (Nancy Ream Enabnit)
Clackamas County sponsored Senior Medicare Patrol on March 1st. Services included free paper shredding, prescription drug drop-off (staffed by our own Sergeant Burns), general information about Medicare, and individual counseling sessions with a certified Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance Counselor.
25 seniors traveled to the Oregon Zoo on March 11th for their first glimpse of Lily. Weather was perfect, and the baby elephant did not disappoint as she paraded in front of her adoring fans.
Parks
Tracy Brown hosted a meeting of Oregon Community Trees in Sandy on March 1st in the Library meeting room. We were able to show off Sandy River Park and Tickle Creek Trail with a presentation followed by on-site tours of both areas. After driving by the new high school, we ended up at Jonsrud Viewpoint. Committee members were very impressed with the tour and commented on the quality upkeep of the parks.
The final park survey count exceeded 550 returns. Chris Gaare (wife of park board member Craig Gaare) offered her time and expertise, free of charge, to tabulate the results. Chris was instrumental in refining the survey prior to distribution as well.
Momentum is building for the dog park fundraiser, Bark for the Park. Local businesses are excited to be involved, and donations of money and products have been brisk. The goal amount to erect fences and double-gate systems at both sites (Meinig & Sandy Bluff) is $25,000.
A pre-bid meeting for Bornstedt Park was held on Tuesday, the 26th. Bids will be opened on Thursday, April 4th. Plans are underway for demolition of the abandoned residence on the property.
Recreation (Sarah Richardson)
Mountain Storm Youth Basketball for Grades K-1 and 5–6 had many activities in March including the 5th and 6th grade Jamboree in the new Sandy High School gyms. The K-2 program continues to be a popular addition to the league.
Preparations for the Summer Recreation Guide are underway. The summer guide will be mailed in late May. The number of participants registering online has grown by about 12% over the same time period last year. For programs in the Winter/Spring Recreation Guide the online registration rate so far is 37%.
The Teen Flashlight Egg Hunt was held in the dark of night at Meinig Park on the 29th. Participants came from as far away as Wilsonville and Gladstone to join in this unique event for teens. About 150 boys and girls, grades 6 through 12, searched for eggs and were rewarded with candy. A lucky few found golden eggs and won gift cards to local businesses.
Transit (Julie Stephens)
Total ridership this month was 19,858, a decrease of 7.4% from the same period last year. The SAM-Estacada route showed an increase of 10%; SAM-Gresham decreased 9.1%; STAR use decreased by 4.4% this month.
The Transit Advisory Committee convened in March with the primary topic of discussion being fare policy. Currently all but STAR service is fareless, but with decreasing grant funding, the policy came under review again. The Transit Master Plan provided the starting point as it recommended diversifying funding resources by instituting a fare. The TAC recommendation put forward for Council was to institute a simple and modest fare with multi-trip options for fare discounts.
As federally required every five years, the Request for Proposals (RFP) for transit operations was published. A pre-proposal meeting was held and the RFP closes on April 8, 2013. The City coordinates RFP’s with Clackamas County for the Mountain Express service in order to gain efficiencies of scale.
Andi Howell and Joyce LeDoux attended the three-day Transit Management Training provided by ODOT Public Transit Division in Salem. They found it very inspiring. Andi put it to use immediately with the fare policy equity portion of the fare review and is currently updating the federally required Civil Rights Program.
Staff developed the grant application to request funding for Saturday morning and Sunday service between Sandy and Gresham. Service will run in conjunction with the Mountain Express extension of service to and from Timberline Lodge.