Permanent Outdoor Covered Structures grant program: The status of the first round of this program is reviewed semi-monthly at the City of Sandy Ec Dev Advisory Board meeting – here is the status of the program as of July 2023:
- Tollgate Inn – At the SURA Board review on September 18th, the Board did not make a final decision pending a request for additional information. A full color elevation showing the existing building and the proposed structure was requested by the Board and provided to staff by the architect of record. This project will be revisited by the SURA Board at their meeting on November 6th.
- All other projects are now structurally complete and under contract.
- Three applicants from the first round of this program have already completely satisfied the financial responsibilities for the applicant portion of their project.
- Covered Structures Round 2: Round 2 of the Covered Structures Program was completed in March of 2023. All projects are completed and either under contract or paid in full.
Sandy Comprehensive Plan/EOA:
- Completed Goals and Policies documents are now available on the Sandy Speaks website for Block 1 (Community and Culture) and Block 2 (Natural Hazards & Resiliency)
- ECONorthwest has scheduled a presentation to the Economic Development Advisory Board to present the results of the EOA at this stage of the project and to get the board’s input at the EDAB’s regular meeting on November 6th. A second presentation to the EDAB in January will gather the board’s input on draft economic development goals and policies.
Economic Development items:
Econ Devl – Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, reports, etc.):
- 362nd Ave and Bell Street Extension (22-003 FSH/MP): A ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the Sandy High School end of the 362nd and Bell Street extension on Sunday, October 1st at 1:00 PM. The Mayor recognized the immense amount of effort and energy by both staff and City Council members, both present and past, to complete this project. The Transit Department brought the trolley out for the initial drive from the high school to the Highway 26 intersection and back. The street officially opened to regular traffic on the morning of Monday, October 2nd.
- 23-001 FAC Sandbar BBQ façade project: This project is currently underway. The initial parking pad for the ADA parking section has now been poured, and the contractor (Seifert Concrete of Colton) has been in close contact with the Building Department as the slope corrections involved are tricky. This project should be substantially complete by the time the October department report is complete.
- Taco Time driveway aprons: New owner Todd Hoffman is currently replacing the driveway apron on Proctor Blvd for this business to eliminate a code enforcement issue with this property. The other two aprons for this property with access on Beers Avenue are next in line for repair. (This project is not receiving any grant funding from the Urban Renewal agency and was included in the department report for informational purposes.)
Econ Devl – Internal Projects:
Downtown maintenance:
- Flower baskets: The baskets have officially been removed as of September 30th, and the planters have been updated with fall/winter plantings. Special thanks as always to Cheri Sigmund and the crew at Cedarglen Floral and to the watering crew from AntFarm Youth Services for the amazing work they both do for us every year and for the compliments we continue to receive on our baskets from citizens and visitors alike. We continue to have one of the best flower basket programs in the state of Oregon.
- AF Downtown Maintenance: Waiting on completion of the second tranche of work, which is now about 90% completed. The next item that will be addressed by the crew will be to tackle the patch of Himalayan blackberries around the back of the property at the Small Change Car Wash at the SW corner of Pioneer and Bruns. These blackberries have contributed to multiple homeless encampments in the past, and a recent code enforcement staff tour showed that this is becoming a “hangout” again. My intention is to have the AntFarm crew completely remove all vegetation around that site that is not in an official landscaping area and to dig out as many blackberry stumps as possible to try and prevent regrowth.
Econ Devl – Economic Development Advisory Board:
The EDAB held a regularly scheduled meeting on September 6th. The Board had our second ever public comment introduced by Councilor Carl Exner, who brought an idea to the board for discussion centered around convening a committee of volunteer business and commercial property owners and possibly EDAB members to address unkempt properties in downtown Sandy in a positive manner (i.e. without code enforcement). The regular agenda for the meeting included standard updates from staff regarding commercial development within city limits, and a board discussion about how to sort high priority action items from the Ec Dev Strategic Plan, which provided staff some good input and reiterated the importance of a new retail market report. I plan to bring a proposal to get this process restarted to the full Council in the near future.
Econ Devl – Conferences/training:
Child Care for All Initiative Retreat (September 25th): This day long retreat, held at the Clackamas ESD main office, was a strategy session for members to help the coalition start to develop an action plan for the near future of this industry in Clackamas County. Advocacy actions suggested at the retreat included developing a menu of actions that could be taken by various participants informed by local case studies, and generating and circulating legislative concepts at the state level, followed by a public awareness campaign and an organized effort to present to elected bodies around the state. Strategies for access, public engagement and workforce development were also discussed.
Coming up: There are two economic development related conferences coming up in October. The first is the Oregon Main Street Conference on October 4th and 5th being held in Independence. Clackamas County Tourism & Cultural Affairs offered to pay for Sandy’s registration fee, so I will be attending this conference entirely on their dime. This conference opens with a session entitled “Best Promotion Ideas from Around the Country”, so I hope to gain some valuable information about how Sandy can continue improving our downtown core.
I am also attending the 2023 Oregon Economic Development Association Fall Conference is October 9th and 10th in Eugene. This will be the first time that OEDA has held its fall conference, which is the primary conference of the year, since before the COVID-19 pandemic began.