Senior Center (Nancy Ream Enabnit)
Dan Pribeagu, a nurse practitioner student from Gonzaga University, concluded his internship with the Senior Center by offering a 3-week Brain Health class. He offered tips on how to increase memory, lifestyle changes to improve mental awareness and foods that help increase brain health. The series concluded with a Brain Healthy lunch on the 17th.
Parks
The Park Board was sad to say goodbye to members Melissa Filich and Christina Frasl who resigned due to school, work and home life conflicts. Their invaluable contributions will certainly be missed. Tanya Richardson has attended two meetings and has shown interest in serving on the Board. More information on Tanya’s qualifications to follow.
Recreation (Sarah Richardson & Carol Cohen)
November was a busy month for youth basketball and planning for Winter and Spring recreation activities.
29 teams have formed for the 2017 Mountain Storm Basketball season. The program has grown and the Recreation Dept. is working with the school district to use the Cedar Ridge gym on Saturdays to accommodate the expanded program. Opportunities for open gyms, team practices, fundamentals classes, and adult programs will be planned.
The Camp Namanu partnership is also expanding. A new Spring Break Camp and other day camps are in the works. The summer program will grow to 4 or more weeks and it will include programs for middle school aged campers.
The Little Medical School program is coming to Sandy. Look for programs that introduce to children the fields of medicine and veterinary care. After-school programs incorporate fun and creative activities to help kids learn about healthy lifestyles for the whole family.
New Dog Training classes are also on the schedule. Several options will be available to choose from including Puppy Manners and the Canine Good Citizen program.
Corn Cross II, the OBRA State Cyclocross Championship was held at Liepold Farms. Over 500 participants enjoyed riding the outstanding course under mostly clear skies. The partnership between the City of Sandy, Liepolds & Sellwood Cycles is a successful model that will likely expand into new events in 2017.
Transit (Andi Howell)
Total ridership this month was 9,506. Overall ridership decreased by 3%. The SAM-Gresham route showed no significant change in ridership; the route increased by 7 rides over November 2015. This is the first time in 4 years that SAM Gresham ridership has not experienced a decrease. This is very promising news for the new fare structure changes that took effect just last month.
SAM-Estacada ridership decreased by 35%. Staff made significant changes to the Estacada route and times last month. It was also discovered that a driver was counting incorrectly on this route, but this was corrected within 1 day. We expect Estacada ridership to rebound soon as riders get used to the changes.
STAR rides decreased by 3.5%. STAR has experienced some decreases due to the cancellation of same-day scheduling. By January, STAR should be able to return to same-day scheduling as the Shopping Shuttle will begin operations December 1. The percentage of elderly and/or disabled riders on STAR was 67%.
The Elderly and Disabled program (out-of-town medical rides) remained unchanged with 69 rides, the same as November 2015.
The Special Transportation Fund Advisory Committee began frequent meetings in November. The STF grant process will begin in December with grants due in January. Andi Howell is the rural transit representative on this committee and will attend meetings frequently through February. Additionally, Caren Topliff was appointed to the committee as a representative from Clackamas County. She is a wonderful addition to the committee and has a long history of advocating for disabled and senior transportation in the State. It was an honor to introduce her to the committee and nominate her for the position.
The Mount Hood Express (MHX) service surveyed ridership in October and found that 25% of their ridership reported transferring from a SAM service. Sandy and the MHX service operated by Clackamas County continue to have a strong commitment to work together at the benefit of the systems and the riders. This relationship was once again recognized by the Federal Highway grant program (FLAP) and both Sandy and Clackamas County were awarded funding for 4 more years. The FLAP funding allows Sandy Transit to operate the expanded Saturday morning hours, from 5:30-9:30 AM, and 8 runs throughout Sunday. This grant was not intended as a stable source of funding, and both Sandy and Clackamas County are thrilled to receive continued support.