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 November 2023:
- Tollgate Inn – Contractor is currently applying for building permits and acquiring materials. Construction should start in early 2024.
- All other covered structures projects are now structurally complete and under contract.
- Four applicants have already completely satisfied the financial responsibilities for the applicant portion of their project.
I have recently received calls from two different municipalities in Oregon – City of Scappoose was one of them, and the other community was coastal but didn’t identify themselves – requesting detailed information on our covered structures program. Both stated that they were very impressed by the City of Sandy’s initiative here and were interested in engaging in a similar program in their communities.
Sandy Comprehensive Plan/EOA:
- ECONorthwest’s EOA presentation to the Economic Development Advisory Board to present the results at this stage of the project and to get the board’s input will occur at the EDAB’s regular meeting on December 6th.
- Economic Development items:
Econ Devl – Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, reports, etc.):
- 23-001 FAC Sandbar BBQ façade project: The parking pad for the ADA parking section has been striped and is awaiting the installation of signage for final approval. The remainder of the striping work is being scheduled now, and you can see the required street trees on the left hand side of the above picture have been purchased and are awaiting installation. Almost there…
- 2023 Trick or Treat Trail: The Trick or Treat Trail was blessed with some outstanding sunny weather in 2023, and the citizens of Sandy showed up in force. Library staff (the official “kid counters” of the Trail) counted 1,179 children at this year’s event, and the photo stop outside of City Hall (see below) was going pretty much non-stop. We’re not sure if this is an all-time record, but if not it’s pretty close – City Hall went through eight 5 lb. bags of candy and was also able to provide the Sandy PD with an additional two bags after they ran out so they keep going until the end of the event. A wildly successful event. On to Winterfest!
- Shop Girl Consignment: Unfortunately, this business is in the process of closing up shop. However, the Ec Dev department was contacted by a new business owner from Gresham that would like to lease the space and is currently engaging with our Building Official about how to add ADA compatibility to the single restroom in the shop. The new business sounds like it will be a workout class facility for Zoomba and other exercise classes with the occasional small event.
Econ Devl – Internal Projects:
Downtown maintenance:
- Winterfest! 2023: Preparations continue…looking forward to seeing Meinig Park and lots of businesses in downtown Sandy awash in holiday lighting. The street tree lighting is complete and ready to go, and is significantly more robust than in years past.
- Small Change Car Wash: The removal of Himalayan blackberries around the back of the property at the Small Change Car Wash at the SW corner of Pioneer and Bruns has been completed by the property owner (see pictures below). This action eliminates the homeless “hangout” behind that line of blackberries. Staff will reach out to the adjacent business (Meadowlark Ski & Snowboard) next to have the rest of the blackberries removed, but this is a fantastic start. Kudos to Chris Relyea in Development Services for reaching out to the business owner about this issue and following up with him to make sure the work was completed.
Econ Devl – Economic Development Advisory Board:
There was no EDAB meeting in November. The next meeting is now scheduled for December 6th, 2023, at 6:30 PM in Council Chambers.
Econ Devl – Conferences/training:
- Mt. Hood and Columbia River Gorge Tourism Partner Engagement (Rhododendron): This event was a half-day workshop at Alpine Events, the new meeting space owned and operated by Busy Bee Catering. The event was hosted by the Mt Hood & Columbia River Gorge Regional Tourism Alliance and Oregon’s Mount Hood Territory. These two organizations have recently signed a contract with Placer.ai to provide them with visitor tracking data for the entire county based on cell phone usage. This data can tell them where visitors go (specifically) and how long they stay at varying places when they stop – this is incredibly valuable information for tracking which destinations are growing in popularity and where to invest tourism resources. This data is also available to their tourism partners at no cost, and the Ec Dev Department plans to take advantage of this resource often. Many thanks to Councilor Walker and Carol Cohen for attending this workshop with me.