Senior Center (Nancy Ream Enabnit)
Staff time was spent developing a grant on behalf of the 10 Senior Centers of Clackamas County. If funded, the money will support meals-on-wheels delivery to those in need who are under 60 years of age. No dedicated funding source exists to reimburse for meal service to those who are 59 and younger and are experience physical or mental challenges threatening proper nutrition. If awarded, each center will be eligible for partial reimbursement on a per-meal basis.
Parks
The park maintenance staff installed signs in all Sandy parks to help inform visitors of guidelines so all can enjoy the City’s beautiful facilities.
Sandy Summer Sounds & Starlight Cinema concluded another successful season. Mother Nature was kind, and the rains held off until the day after the Volunteer Recognition Picnic.
Recreation (Sarah Richardson)
August was a busy month with summer programs wrapping up, the Adult Softball tournament, preparations for the Dogs Day Out fundraiser, the Fall Recreation & Leisure Guide and planning for Mountain Storm youth basketball.
The partnership with Camp Namanu was a summer highlight. We are already talking about ways to expand the program for next summer. Such a great resource in Sandy’s backyard.
The Recreation Department is always looking for new partnerships, like the one with Camp Namanu, to create opportunities for area residents. Collaborative efforts allow us to offer more diverse programs, and to keep costs low by sharing resources, facilities etc.
The Adult Co-ed Softball league attracted more teams this year. Games were scheduled at Sandy High School for most of the season and a fun end-of-season tournament was played at the Hoodview Sports Complex in Happy Valley as the SHS fields underwent maintenance.
Transit (Andi Howell)
Total ridership this month was 10,577. Overall ridership decreased by 4.2%; the SAM-Gresham route decreased by 2.9%. SAM-Estacada ridership decreased by 16.7%. STAR rides decreased by 9%. 69% of riders on the STAR service are elderly and/or disabled. The Elderly and Disabled program saw another large increase in ridership of 101.8% from last August.
In August, SAM collected surveys on the FLAP (Federal Lands Access Program) funded service hours. These hours are early Saturday morning and all day Sunday on the SAM- Gresham route. Most of the results of this survey are reflective of past surveys conducted during all hours of service. Overall, those surveyed are highly transit dependent. Half of the participants began their trip in Sandy. Of those who began their trip outside of Sandy, 39.4% began in Portland or Gresham. 47% of the respondents use transit almost every day. The top reasons for their weekend trip was recreation and/or social at 48% and commuting to work at 42%. 78% of the respondents report not owning a vehicle they could have used for that trip and 34% earned less than $10,000 a year. 49% are under 30 years of age.
The most requested improvement was more Sunday service with 70% responding “very important” followed by later service as “very important” (61%). Several respondents elaborated in comments by requesting more service and weekend service in Estacada. Sandy staff have been aware of the need for more service between Sandy and Estacada, especially on the weekends. Staff is currently analyzing possible changes to the Estacada route to meet those needs.
In addition to survey responses, staff tracked in-town trips versus commute/express trips and elderly and/or disabled riders. The percentage of elderly and/or disabled was slightly higher at 17% than the previously predicted 14%. Additionally, during the weekend survey, only 4.2% of the trips were in-town trips.
Staff will conduct surveys in September during other times and routes for the sake of comparison. Especially important is feedback from riders on the Estacada route regarding service improvement.