Senior Center (Nancy Ream Enabnit)
December began with a family tradition that has lasted 29 years, Breakfast with Santa. The Center raised $3,266 in breakfast sales, raffle tickets and cash donations to help support the Sandy/Boring meals-on-wheels program. Volunteers and staff decorate the center, solicit prizes, prepare and serve the meal, greet attendees, take & develop photos and clean up. Local businesses once again donated merchandise for the raffle or money to directly support the fundraiser. Breakfast with Santa is a wonderful reminder of the special community in which we live.
Parks
Work continues to inch along on the restoration project in Meinig Park. Additional survey work is currently underway to provide accurate information to ensure appropriate slope percentages to meet ADA requirements. A tree survey will also assist in path and dog park location.
Recreation (Sarah Richardson)
Final detail for the Winter/Spring Recreation & Leisure Guide was completed. The Guide went live on the first day after Christmas break. New programs included the science-based Little Medical and Little Veterinarian School. These programs introduce 6-11 year-olds to the fields of medicine and veterinary practices through hands-on activities, games, and projects. Classes take place after school and on weekends.
The department is in ongoing talks to expand the partnership with Camp Namanu. They will be offering a spring break camp and meetings are planned to look at bringing after-school programs to Sandy.
Dog training classes have returned to the Community Center. They include Puppy Kindergarten, Basic Manners and more. Recreation staff has received frequent requests to bring back dog training programs, and we are looking forward to offering more as interest grows.
Mountain Storm Youth Basketball was off to an early start this year, but Mother Nature had other ideas. Participation continues to grow and the program is already utilizing increased access to Cedar Ridge to meet the need for more practices and games. Programs for K-2 have been expanded to include an intermediate fundamentals class for 1st and 2nd graders at Cedar Ridge on Saturdays.
Transit (Andi Howell)
Total ridership this month was 9,043. Overall ridership decreased by 5.4%. The SAM-Gresham ridership decreased by 4.6%. This route was negatively impacted due to the snow and ice in December. Although the route was never completely canceled, there were delays, canceled runs and often hourly headways rather than half-hour.
SAM-Estacada ridership decreased by 42%. Staff made significant changes to the Estacada line, including the route itself. The new route was particularly impacted by the snow and ice, and several runs were canceled. This was unanticipated and future steps will be taken to address the inaccessibility of the in-town portion of this route in bad road conditions.
STAR ridership did not experience a significant increase or decrease. Elderly and Disabled ridership on STAR remained at 67%. The Elderly and Disabled program (out-of-town medical rides) experienced a 45.5% increase in ridership as compared to December 2015. Both STAR and ED were impacted by the snow and ice and several trips were canceled.
The new Shopper Shuttle was successful in the first month of operation, especially given the weather. This route was canceled one day and was driven by an SUV rather than a bus several days in December due to road conditions. The route provided 120 rides in the first month.
Due to a delay in the grant agreement process for the Shopper Shuttle, 5 planned months of operations were not possible. At the request of Sandy staff, ODOT agreed to allow Sandy to reallocate those operations funds to the capital component of the grant. These increased funds will allow the City to purchase a “trolley style” bus. It will be a low floor bus with a ramp and 2 wheelchair locations, which will provide accessibility for everyone, with the added charm of a trolley. The procurement process will occur in January and the “trolley bus” is expected by June 2017.
The Mount Hood Express (MHX) service experienced increased ridership last month due to the weather conditions on the mountain. This increase in ridership has changed the boarding patterns of MHX riders, leading to an increase of riders utilizing the Sandy Operations Center as a park-and-ride location. MHX buses depart the Sandy Operations Center so riders who board in Sandy have the first access to seats. Sandy staff debriefed with the operations crew to better plan for the increased traffic, staff time, riders and garbage in the parking lot. The bus stop was moved to an improved location, a new sign was posted and a garbage can will be installed. Sandy staff have also begun conversations with Clackamas County to encourage passengers to ride SAM from the Gresham Transit Center, lessening traffic on Hwy 26 and the impact on staff time at this facility. It is very encouraging to see MHX and Sandy Transit staff successfully collaborate with Clackamas County for the betterment of both systems.