Senior Center (Nancy Ream Enabnit)
The 26th annual Breakfast With Santa brought in nearly $3,000. Money raised benefits the Sandy/Boring meals-on-wheels program. Dedicated volunteers drive four separate routes each day to make sure the 45 recipients receive a hot, home-delivered meal four days each week. Thanks again to the local merchants and the many volunteers who donated goods and time to make this holiday fundraiser a success.
Save the date! The Senior Center will celebrate its 40th Anniversary on April 24th.
Parks
From park land purchase to completion of Bornstedt Park was a mere 8-1/2 years. There are a few finishing touches left to be done on the playground, but landscaping, splash pad, paths, plaza, community garden, benches, irrigation, drinking fountain, and a stunning half-street improvement are done at last! A formal ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held in March.
Recreation (Sarah Richardson)
Mountain Storm is in full swing with 22 teams. Grades 3-6 were combined into one season this year, so the calendar is very busy.
The 2nd edition of the electronic Recreation & Leisure Guide was produced in December for the Winter & Spring 2014 season. Overall registration has been better than expected for the fall considering the transition to paperless guide, and registrations are expected to grow over the next few sessions as residents get more accustomed to the change in the delivery of information.
From a financial point of view, we are way ahead considering the cost of producing and mailing the printed guide is no longer a factor. Department staff is able to use more current trends in communicating with residents including email marketing, Facebook, targeted email blasts and more. The database for email marketing grows daily.
The guide has live link capabilities and staff is developing ways to assist area businesses that offer education/recreation/leisure opportunities. An advertising fee structure for including links to these businesses in the guide is being developed.
Transit (Julie Stephens)
Total ridership this month was 11,368, a decrease of 37.3% from the same period last year. SAM-Gresham decreased 40%; SAM-Estacada had the greatest drop in use, 48.5%; STAR had a most modest increase, 2.4% this month; and ED ridership increased by 42.4%.
Ridership stats for October & November are under review for accuracy. Procedural changes in the recording system caused confusion for some operators and passenger counts were a bit low. Next month data will be provided for the end of the year ridership review.
The Mt. Hood Express ridership almost doubled in December with 3137 rides! The projected use for recreation and employment in the Mt Hood area is materializing. Calls come in daily from people all over the Portland area and beyond asking about the service. Hikers from the Pacific Crest Trail have come into Sandy on the bus for supplies and a taste of civilization. The service will be operating seven express runs daily, seven days a week, through March along with the two Villages shuttle runs. In April the service frequency drops, but service continues seven days a week.
The Mt. Hood Express grand opening event at Timberline Lodge, held on December 16th, was a well-attended, successful celebration of the expanded service provided by the public/private partnership between Clackamas County, City of Sandy, US Forest Service, Timberline Lodge, Ski Bowl, the Resort on the Mountain and the RV Village.
The Transit Advisory Committee convened on December 18th. The service and fare changes were discussed as well as increased state funding for Special Transportation Services for elderly and people with disabilities. It was agreed we will be submitting grant applications for the next STAR bus to be a “low-floor” and for some supplemental operating funds.
Bernice Powell and Andi Howell lead a popular Transit Adventure to Timberline for a tour of the lodge and lunch. The trip was capped at nineteen participants and was so popular, with many on the waitlist, that they will do a snowshoe trip to Ski Bowl in March.
Fare collections continue to be on target for projected revenue, and ridership on STAR in-town has seemingly returned to normal.