Senior Center (Nancy Ream Enabnit)
Once again, members of the Center looked forward to a world-premiere Halloween skit written and performed by center staff, with special guest Seth Atkinson joining in this year’s fun. Folks were thoroughly entertained with the theme, “Dancing with the Stars–All Girl Version.” Performances of the Charleston, the Hustle and the Twist wowed the audience as did snappy dialogue from the emcee and judges.

Parks
The Park Board continues to meet with a main goal of updating the original Master Plan, adopted in 1997. There was a trail component included in the initial plan, but the new plan will feature a more extensive vision of trails in and around the city as well as potential connections to regional trails. Another goal is to pursue rezoning of all Park land as parks, rather than residential zoning with a conditional use.

Recreation (Sarah Richardson)
Fall recreation classes and programs were in full swing in October. Mountain Storm registrations came rolling in and it looks like we will have a record season for 3^rd and 4^th grade teams.

The new after-school Bricks 4 Kidz program concluded a successful first session and we look forward to more programs for Winter/Spring. Long-time fall staples of Kinderdance and Pee Wee Soccer continue to be popular. Sandy and Troutdale Recreation Departments are looking for ways to collaborate on more teen programs and look forward to trying out some new ideas this winter.

Transit (Julie Stephens)
Total ridership this month was 12,802.  Fares were implemented in October 2013, therefore this is the first month that provides comparative annual data. Though the ridership isn’t flat, the reduction has slowed to an overall total of 21%. SAM-Gresham decreased 25%; again this month, SAM-Estacada had a drop in use of 22%; STAR had an increase of 26% this month; and ED ridership had a decrease of 20%.

The expanded Mt. Hood Express ridership was 2439 in October.  The bike trailers are off and ski equipment boxes are being constructed for the winter season.  The City was honored with an award for partnership at the Summit-to-Summit event at Timberline.

Julie, Andi, Joyce, Janice, along with Transit Advisory Committee members Joseph Lowe and Roxy Tolva, attended the Oregon Public Transportation Conference in Seaside.  It was multi-generational themed with excellent keynote speakers and very well attended.  We focused on updated federal regulations for ADA, procurement, grant and asset management.  Julie and a colleague from eastern Oregon co-led a rural provider round-table.

In response to the top two requested improvements in the recent survey, additional runs will be added on Sundays to the SAM-Gresham route beginning December 1, 2014.  Sunday service was introduced lightly last year with fewer runs than the funding allowed.  The addition will result in 8 runs on Sunday, more evenly spaced between 7 AM and 9 PM.  New schedules and route maps are at the printer and will soon be reflected at bus stops and on the website.

Senior Center (Nancy Ream Enabnit)
It’s time to give a shout-out to the dedicated crew of Meals-on-Wheels drivers. Iris White heats up the food and packages it for delivery. Four routes are delivered four days each week. Currently there are 49 individuals who receive a hot meal and, more importantly a welfare check, from one of 16 caring volunteers. The service boundary encompasses the entire Oregon Trail School District, exclusive of the Hoodland corridor. After people begin to receive meals, Cami Henderson conducts an in-home visit and explains the other services provided by the Center.

Parks
Joe Preston & Steve Gillis kept the parks looking snazzy for the peak use season. That was no easy task since new facilities, Bornstedt Park and the Sandy Bluff Dog Park, created quite a bit of additional work for the crew.  Many thanks to Joe & Steve.

Recreation (Sarah Richardson)
It has been a year since the Recreation Guide went completely electronic. For the most part the impact has been positive.  The new reader board, more flyers to schools, email newsletter blasts etc. have helped to provide the community with information about recreation and leisure opportunities. Feedback indicates they like the frequent reminders.

The Recreation Department and the Library have started to talk about collaborating more frequently on programs. Working together in the summer to provide camps, classes and other programs is an exciting possibility.

Some programs were in transition in September, namely the Wednesday playgroup. It is back up and running now, but September numbers will reflect the delay in reorganizing after Healthy Start lost funding. The turnout the first week was very strong indicating the need for such programs in our community.

Transit (Julie Stephens)
Total ridership this month of 11,442, shows a slowing trend of declining ridership, 33% from the same period last year. SAM-Gresham decreased 36%; again this month, SAM-Estacada had the greatest drop in use, 44%; STAR had an increase of 12.7% this month; and ED ridership had a decrease of 61%.  The opening of the dialysis facility in Sandy has shifted many ED rides to STAR.  The result is significant cost savings per trip, better usage of STAR and an increase in the percent of people with disabilities using STAR.  STAR remains, however, available to the general public.

The expanded Mt. Hood Express ridership was 2510 in September.  The bike trailers have brought out a new mountain bike ridership that takes the bus up to Ski Bowl and Timberline and rides trails back to Rhododendron.  The bike trailers will remain through October or until the snow flies.  Ski equipment boxes are being constructed for the winter season.

Julie and Clackamas County partner, Teresa Christopherson, attended the Conference on Transportation and Federal Lands in Washington, DC.   It was rich with shared information on innovative projects and areas of research affecting multimodal transportation, tourism, recreation, travel and access to and in National Parks and Federal Lands.  The Mt Hood Multimodal Plan and subsequent transit project with its unique partnerships was presented by ODOT and WFHA.

Transit staff worked to design and conduct multiple online, newsletter and on-board transit surveys in September.  The surveys were performed jointly with Mt Hood Express to fulfill a requirement for the Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) Grant.  Online surveys were available for one week, newsletter survey responses are still coming in, and on-board surveys were conducted on all routes during all hours over three days—approximately 140 service hours.  A BIG thank you to the on-board survey volunteers (off-duty drivers, TAC members, PSU students, willing husbands and family) and staff who performed many extra shifts to get the job done.

Online and newsletter results are still being tabulated.  Andi has entered all 336 on-board surveys into Survey Monkey for analysis.  Preliminary results show great satisfaction with the service, especially the drivers, a desire for more Sunday service, later weekday service, a very high percentage of transit dependent riders and once again, that SAM brings as many riders into Sandy daily as those transported elsewhere.  This is significant and clearly identified because the surveys are conducted in one direction only.