Senior Center (Nancy Ream Enabnit)
Landscaping on the north side of the building was completed by Valley View Landworks. The new xeriscape motif will require lighter maintenance and much less water. It does a nice job of highlighting the Sandy Style sign and reader board.
The Center partnered with the Animal Shelter Alliance of Portland (ASAP) to provide a pick-up/drop-off site for free spay and neutering of cats. Over 60 furry friends received the free service as well as flea prevention treatment.
In addition to the popular, monthly Alzheimer’s Support Group, Cami Henderson has coordinated educational offerings for those wishing to learn more about the disease and caring for people with memory loss. The first class, “Effective Communication Strategies” took place on March 18th.
Parks
Staff time was spent completing a Local Government Grant application in hopes of funding improvements to Meinig Park. Included in the request is money to realign paths to accessible standards, improve the riparian corridor along No Name Creek, install an off-leash dog area in the upper/south area of the park and upgrade path lighting. Thanks to a previous allocation of funds from the City Council for a park master plan, construction drawings for the Meinig project are already complete. Applicants are required to make a presentation before the grant committee sometime in early June.
Recreation (Sarah Richardson)
Mountain Storm Youth Basketball completed the season for grades 3-6 with two Jamborees held in the Sandy High School gym. 23 Teams played basketball this season with a record number of 3rd and 4th graders participating.
The K-1 basketball program led by Carol Cohen has been very popular as well. The program teaches fundamental basketball skills and is a wonderful introduction to the sport. Attendance at long-time programs like Kinderdance and Pee Wee Soccer is very strong this year.
Work has begun on the Summer Recreation & Leisure Guide, and new sections are being developed. They include more detailed information on how to register, and how to use the electronic guide to share with friends and family etc. New this year is a Summer Camp information section.
Sandy Library and the Recreation Department will be collaborating on two summer camp sessions this year as a way to share resources and to help residents learn more about both library and recreation programs.
Transit (Julie Stephens)
Total ridership this month was 11,188. The ridership overall decrease was 7.5%; SAM-Gresham decreased 10%; SAM-Estacada had a drop in use of 3.7%; STAR increased again this month by 12%; and ED ridership decreased by 50%.
In the regional grant process, Sandy grant requests were fully funded for a total of approximately $820k. The biennial grant awards include operating funds of $252k for STAR; $72k to backfill lost JARC funds; $98k for ED (frail Elderly & Disabled medical trips outside of Sandy); $131k for preventive vehicle maintenance; $166k for the replacement of 2 vehicles (MV1 for ED & LowFloor Cutaway for STAR); $100k vehicle match for transit vehicle replacement (SAM) awarded through ODOT federal rural capital funds (5339) at $311k. The vehicle replacements and preventive maintenance funds will help keep the fleet in a state of good repair.
The general public 5311 Small City and Rural Transit program funds in the next biennium are approximately $832k.
The FLAP—Federal Lands Access Program grant from Federal Highways was also awarded continuing funds through years 3 and 4 of the original 4-year request. The annual amount of approximately $50k funds the new weekend service which connects the Portland area to Sandy and the Mt Hood Express service to Timberline.
The Transit Advisory Committee convened March 18th with Councilor Lois Coleman joining the committee. The agenda included recent grant awards, vehicle replacements and surpluses, and Transit Day at the Capitol scheduled for April 8th. We will have a group of 5 meeting with our legislators and attending the event.
We took delivery of a new transit vehicle, an MV1. It is a 6-passenger vehicle slated for frail-elderly and disabled trips into Gresham & Portland for medical appointments. The retired vehicle will be passed to the Senior Center for their use while awaiting their new, smaller vehicle.
Transit will promote Earth Day with a fare FREE day on April 18th in conjunction with Solv-It in Sandy activities.